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2025 Letter

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Re: 2025 Letter

#131

Post by pron »

dzonga wrote: post #49

London has the house prices of California and the income levels of Mississippi. the UK is seriously broken, I always reflect on the energy generation statistics of the UK per capita while in the US you see automated car washes, in the uk most car washes are Albanians n other immigrants etc

London doesn't have the income level of Mississippi, although that might be true for the UK average. I'd say that the UK may be "seriously broken", but not more so than other post-industrial countries, including the US (or France, or Japan). It's just broken in different ways. E.g. life expectancy in the UK is significantly higher than in America even though they were the same in the '80s. Education levels (and measures such as literacy profficiency and skills etc.) are also significantly better in the UK than in the US. Somewhat tongue in cheek, Americans are richer but they don't seem to be putting their money to good use, as Brits are better educated and live longer.

Re: 2025 Letter

#132

Post by ceuk »

tshaddox wrote: post #91
ceuk wrote: post #70

As a Brit, I struggled to get much interesting out of this considering how many times he mentions "Europe" (in that condescendingly general way that only US folks seem to manage). He talks about "European" prospects and his trip to Denmark but then cites London as a representative example? This almost broke my brain it felt so incoherent. Never mind that (despite my personal wishes) we're not even part of the EU (whi…

> Never mind that (despite my personal wishes) we're not even part of the EU (which I assume is what he means by "Europe"). Nah, Americans aren’t particularly interested in which Europeans are offended by being identified as “Europeans” this week. If we say “Europe” without qualification we’re probably just talking about the continent. (And no, we don’t even use the word “continent” as a distinction within Europe, ex…

> Americans don’t really have much of a concept of what European identity is, and we don’t really care

Cool. Look, I made that comment with a lot of fondness, but if this is the case, maybe leave the European analysis to someone else..

Re: 2025 Letter

#133

Post by i_love_retros »

dzonga wrote: post #49

London has the house prices of California and the income levels of Mississippi. the UK is seriously broken, I always reflect on the energy generation statistics of the UK per capita while in the US you see automated car washes, in the uk most car washes are Albanians n other immigrants etc

Yes but London isn't in America so there's that.

Have you lived in the UK at all, or at least spent considerable time there?

I've lived in the UK and America, and America seems far more broken to me.

Re: 2025 Letter

#134

Post by basisword »

jemmyw wrote: post #121
dzonga wrote: post #49

London has the house prices of California and the income levels of Mississippi. the UK is seriously broken, I always reflect on the energy generation statistics of the UK per capita while in the US you see automated car washes, in the uk most car washes are Albanians n other immigrants etc

> while in the US you see automated car washes, in the uk most car washes are Albanians n other immigrants etc Er what? I moved away from the UK in 2007 but even then the only place I or my parents washed a car was the ubiquitous petrol station automated car wash.

No idea where OP is based but like most suggestions about the UK or London online it's bullshit. Most petrol stations have the same automated car washes they've always had. If you want your car hand washed there are lots of people doing that too, as there always have been. Like all places, the UK and/or London has plenty of issues including serious ones - but I'd still pick it over anywhere in the US regardless of salary differences.

Re: 2025 Letter

#135

Post by Cyph0n »

financetechbro wrote: post #129
verbify wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spot checked some of this and from what I can find, the median salary in London is about $12k more than Mississippi, and the median house price in London is about $100k less than California. Bear in mind that obviously the mean salary in London is going to be far higher than the median (the finance industry will skew it), while I'm not sure that's as extreme as Mississippi. Additionally median salaries reflect a lo…

Dubai is absolutely economically broken lol. The city was built on cheap foreign slave labor. And the luxurious amenities of the city are only for the wealthy royal and foreigners. Their main export besides oil is the illusion of a thriving metropolis

The example I like to use to demonstrate how broken labor vs. service costs are in the UAE is to compare the price of a Big Mac meal to the price of a standard manual car wash (closer to detailing tbh).

In the UAE, a Big Mac meal costs approximately 35 AED ($10). On the other hand, a manual car wash - approx. 1-2 hours of labor - can cost you around 20 AED.

In other words, you could get almost two manual car washes for the price of a Big Mac.

Re: 2025 Letter

#136

Post by hereonout2 »

basisword wrote: post #134
jemmyw wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> while in the US you see automated car washes, in the uk most car washes are Albanians n other immigrants etc Er what? I moved away from the UK in 2007 but even then the only place I or my parents washed a car was the ubiquitous petrol station automated car wash.

No idea where OP is based but like most suggestions about the UK or London online it's bullshit. Most petrol stations have the same automated car washes they've always had. If you want your car hand washed there are lots of people doing that too, as there always have been. Like all places, the UK and/or London has plenty of issues including serious ones - but I'd still pick it over anywhere in the US regardless of sa…

Conversely, I've no idea where you or the parent has the idea that the UK is full of automated car washes and the OP is talking bullshit. I live in London and can think of a only a handful of the old fashioned automatic car washes.

Whereas I can get a hand carwash at pretty much any supermarket car park I land on. From a guy with a bucket and trolley to a full team of four going at it with a power wash. Tesco, Sainsbury's, wherever.

The Albanian angle feels loaded, but it's true that many of the employees do seem to be recent immigrants.

I don't see much point denying this reality, it feels a bit like trying to argue there's always been high streets full of betting shops, charity shops, vape stores and American candy shops.

Re: 2025 Letter

#137

Post by hereonout2 »

jemmyw wrote: post #121
dzonga wrote: post #49

London has the house prices of California and the income levels of Mississippi. the UK is seriously broken, I always reflect on the energy generation statistics of the UK per capita while in the US you see automated car washes, in the uk most car washes are Albanians n other immigrants etc

> while in the US you see automated car washes, in the uk most car washes are Albanians n other immigrants etc Er what? I moved away from the UK in 2007 but even then the only place I or my parents washed a car was the ubiquitous petrol station automated car wash.

Is it that unimaginable things might have changed in the almost two decades since you left?

Re: 2025 Letter

#138

Post by jimnotgym »

allturtles wrote: post #88
MontyCarloHall wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But at a more fundamental level, our material quality of life is that of literal kings. This cannot be overstated. To wit, a Honda Accord (or equivalent mid-range car of today) is objectively superior to a Rolls Royce from the 90s in terms of amenities, engine power/efficiency, quietness, build quality, safety, etc. The same is true for quality-of-life improvements across a vast swath of consumer goods, and therefor…

> Carefully consider the lifestyle of someone living several decades ago. Would you honestly want to live such a lifestyle yourself? Sure, I lived it, and it was very pleasant at the time and in many ways better than now in retrospect. e.g. always-on access to infinite content engines like YouTube, TikTok, X, Facebook, etc. is probably a net negative, both for individuals and society. I wouldn't want to go back a cen…

I agree, 30 years ago a working man doing 40 hours a week in a factory could still support a family on one income and expect to own a house. We hit a peak 30-40 years ago.

Re: 2025 Letter

#139

Post by amelius »

socalgal2 wrote: post #125
bix6 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

House prices are out of wack anywhere desirable because the local income is irrelevant when non-locals are allowed to scoop up the local supply.

This is a common opinion that never actually matches the facts. The issue is all the things blocking supply. As long as supply is blocked, prices will go up, Period

But why allow e.g. Chinese investors to buy property in SF if they aren't even going to live there?

Re: 2025 Letter

#140

Post by [deleted] »

turbonaut wrote: post #59
klysm wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Income and wealth inequality! I don’t see a way out for the UK

Median wealth per adult in the UK is 176k. In the US it is only 124k. Source: UBS Global Wealth Report 2025 Of course US does has a much higher mean wealth…

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