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I visited Taiwan recently and was shocked by the weird economics there. Rent, food, clothing, and labor are extremely cheap. Foreign goods and property are insa
by cowmoo728 8y ago
I visited Taiwan recently and was shocked by the weird economics there. Rent, food, clothing, and labor are extremely cheap. Foreign goods and property are insanely expensive. It's clear there's wealth, as I saw several dozen rare BMWs and Audis, and some Lambos, Ferraris, Bentleys. But then I read that the average annual salary of a new university graduate is $11,000 USD.
It's also a very friendly place to foreigners. I'm surprised there aren't any enterprising people jumping from Shenzhen to Taipei now that Shenzhen is so expensive.
- goobynight 8y agoIf you're a Taiwan local that is able to sell the local talent in the form of offshore services for even 70% of US rates or even just have a remote job that pays well, you will have a Lambo/early retirement/whatever faster than you know it, because you will be able to save the entirety of your post-tax salary.
- jklepatch 8y agoAs someone who is doing exactly that I can confirm!
- paxy 8y agoThat's a common sign of huge wealth disparity. There isn't a middle class for luxury goods manufacturers to target, and the ultra rich can pay pretty much whatever you want them to.
- sinstein 8y agoI spotted more Maseratis than BMWs and there were already a lot of BMWs.
- lemerou 8y agoTotally agree with the rest of your answer but rent is definitely not extremely cheap, at least in Taipei (wich is where most of the jobs are). It can actually be argued that the property market in Taipei is a bubble.
- goodold 8y agoThat's not true. It is indeed expensive to buy a house, but rent itself is definitely very cheap. This is of course a clear sign that the property market is a bubble there.