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Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

fullstackeconomics.com

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Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#151

Post by [deleted] »

asdff wrote: post #138
paxys wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heck 330 USD is also probably on the higher end. In India (which is considered the "expensive" country in South Asia) it is pretty easy to find full time household help for $200/mo even in large, expensive cities. Stuff like iPhones and imported cars, however, cost double their price in the states.

Seems there is a huge business opportunity just mailing things like Apple products from Oregon, where you don't pay sales tax, straight to india to be sold far below their market rates for that same product.

[deleted]

Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#153

Post by TomK32 »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #16

Agatha Christie's quote is well-known but the exact same situation still holds today in many countries. Here in Viet Nam it is extremely common for middle income families to have a maid or nanny (or both) but not a car. The cars themselves are quite expensive. A Honda Civic is $33,000 by itself whereas a nanny (6-days a week, 10 hours a day) is $400-500/month and a maid who works 9 hours a week, i.e. 3 days a week, 3…

Here in Austria we still have building codes from the Nazis that dictate a parking space for every new unit built. This is absolutely ridiculous in cities where car ownership is going down but underground parking is built. A sad result is that many of those expensive underground parking spaces are empty because house owners are not forced to rent out units and parking spaces separately while at the same time the overground parking (for 50 Euros a year in Linz' Blue parking zone) are overcrowded.

Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#154

Post by baron816 »

Hamuko wrote: post #146
baron816 wrote: post #143

It’s crazy to me that the Democrats haven’t made increased immigration a plan for helping mitigate inflation. More immigrants means more construction workers to build housing, more nannies, more nurses, more truck drivers, more meat factory workers, etc. I guess they haven’t done that as labor groups also don’t like immigration. The whole position of the left with regards to immigration is about race anyway, not abou…

Isn't immigration reform basically one of the biggest legislative vaporwave projects?

I think when there is a prevailing narrative about a shortage of labor is a really good time to push a narrative about the benefits of importing labor.

Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#156

Post by rustybolt »

Not sure if it was a bad thing or not. If you look at the things of which the prices have increased, they are all essential things. The things of which the prices have decreased are mostly luxury (and bad for the environment). And cars, but with good enough public transport you really shouldn't need a car.

Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#157

Post by paxys »

asdff wrote: post #138
paxys wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heck 330 USD is also probably on the higher end. In India (which is considered the "expensive" country in South Asia) it is pretty easy to find full time household help for $200/mo even in large, expensive cities. Stuff like iPhones and imported cars, however, cost double their price in the states.

Seems there is a huge business opportunity just mailing things like Apple products from Oregon, where you don't pay sales tax, straight to india to be sold far below their market rates for that same product.

You just described the smuggling industry, and it does already exist

Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#158

Post by alasdair_ »

wbobeirne wrote: post #136
danans wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But he found that, since the merchants charged people by their social class, The same thing happens in developed countries like the US too. It's just done a different way: We have high end grocery stores and low end grocery stores, and ones in the middle, each catering more or less to different social classes. If you are really low on the totem pole, you may have no grocery store. Although they differ in the qualit…

I get what you're going for, but this simply isn't comparable. I pretty much can't walk into the same store and purchase the same item but be quoted a different price than anyone else. There are rich areas and poor areas, touristy areas and off-the-beaten-path areas. But in US retail you won't find sellers discriminate based solely on the look of the customer in 99% of cases.

> I pretty much can't walk into the same store and purchase the same item but be quoted a different price than anyone else.

The USA only does this for trivial unnecessary frivolities like medical care.

Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#159

Post by xuki »

andi999 wrote: post #122
freddie_mercury wrote: post #16

Agatha Christie's quote is well-known but the exact same situation still holds today in many countries. Here in Viet Nam it is extremely common for middle income families to have a maid or nanny (or both) but not a car. The cars themselves are quite expensive. A Honda Civic is $33,000 by itself whereas a nanny (6-days a week, 10 hours a day) is $400-500/month and a maid who works 9 hours a week, i.e. 3 days a week, 3…

Also the extra usefulness of a car is much lower. In SEA you can transport the whole family on a scooter.

Hahaha this was my family of 4, 20 years ago. I still remember it vividly for some reason, thanks for the reminder.

Re: Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car

#160

Post by mcorning »

telesilla wrote: post #129
joe_the_user wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a fellow American friend who lived in Bali for a year in the mid-70s. When he arrived, he shopped for his own food and cooked it. But he found that, since the merchants charged people by their social class, he could hire a housekeeper and have them buy and cook his food for the same price as buying his own found. And people expect him to do this.

>people expect him to do this. Right, it's part of how society works. In some places, having a housekeeper is a critical part of the economy and its incredibly impolite not to have one, if you are part of the expat class.

I'm surprised to hear that it is impolite to not have a housekeeper if you are an expat. To which places are you referring?
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