7 ms·

Why would transportation costs be higher in the US? Gasoline is two times cheaper in the US than in Sweden. Food is roughly the same price, depending of what yo

Why would transportation costs be higher in the US? Gasoline is two times cheaper in the US than in Sweden. Food is roughly the same price, depending of what you eat.

swagasaurus-rex 7y ago
Cars are required in most cities in the US to hold a job due to lack of public transportation. Cars are required in most rural areas in the US because there is no other way around.
- Izkata 7y ago
  On that second point, a perspective note for non-US people who don't realize: Sweden has about the same geographic area as just California. Only covers about 5% of the whole contiguous US.
  - ryannevius 7y ago
    Size comparison, for reference: https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTM4NDAyOTc.MTA5MjczODQ*OTIzNTYwNg(MjkwNzQ4MQ~!SE*ODMzOTUzNg.MTQ1MDk0MzI)Mw https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTM4NDAyOTc.MTA5MjczODQ...
  - Gwypaas 7y ago
    And there's 40 million people in California compared to 10 million in Sweden. So comparatively California is a densely populated mecca.
    - lotsofpulp 7y ago
      Transportation costs for most individuals are related to density at a city level, not a nation level, so I don’t see the relevance of comparing density of a nation.
sykick 7y ago
Public transportation is very bad in the U.S. Even in major cities. For the vast majority of people a car is a necessity in the U.S. Most Americans end up in debt to buy a car. Then there is insurance and the opportunity cost of the government having to spend a great deal of money on road maintenance that could otherwise be spent on things like education.
- treden 7y ago
  European cities have much higher population density, and the lower personal income (often via higher taxes and, ironically, worker protection laws) changes the tradeoff between driving and taking pub trans, so more people take the bus. The tradeoff is that a lot of people live in small boxes. And european governments have plenty of bs job creation engines like roadwork, too. Would be nice to have some data. One related observation, that seems less surprising the longer I live here, is that europe has no spacex, google, tesla, nasa, coherent mars rovers, the list goes on... if you give people stuff, they're mostly just afraid someone's going to take it away. But yeah, to echo someone else's comment, I'd rather be poor, or even average, in Europe. I guess being super wealthy here wouldn't be that bad either, since nobody's nipping at your heels.
  - reallydontask 7y ago
    > And european governments have plenty of bs job creation engines like roadwork, too. Do you really think that there isn't economic value in roadworks?
    - dillonmckay 7y ago
      US BS job creation is in healthcare, particularly insurance processing and billing, not roads.
      - sschueller 7y ago
        Printing paper checks in the 21st century....

Why would transportation costs be higher in the US? Gasoline is two times cheaper in the US than in Sweden. Food is roughly the same price, depending of what you eat.

swagasaurus-rex 7y ago

Cars are required in most cities in the US to hold a job due to lack of public transportation. Cars are required in most rural areas in the US because there is no other way around.

Izkata 7y ago
On that second point, a perspective note for non-US people who don't realize: Sweden has about the same geographic area as just California. Only covers about 5% of the whole contiguous US.
- ryannevius 7y ago
  Size comparison, for reference: https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTM4NDAyOTc.MTA5MjczODQ*OTIzNTYwNg(MjkwNzQ4MQ~!SE*ODMzOTUzNg.MTQ1MDk0MzI)Mw https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTM4NDAyOTc.MTA5MjczODQ...
- Gwypaas 7y ago
  And there's 40 million people in California compared to 10 million in Sweden. So comparatively California is a densely populated mecca.
  - lotsofpulp 7y ago
    Transportation costs for most individuals are related to density at a city level, not a nation level, so I don’t see the relevance of comparing density of a nation.

sykick 7y ago

Public transportation is very bad in the U.S. Even in major cities. For the vast majority of people a car is a necessity in the U.S. Most Americans end up in debt to buy a car. Then there is insurance and the opportunity cost of the government having to spend a great deal of money on road maintenance that could otherwise be spent on things like education.

treden 7y ago
European cities have much higher population density, and the lower personal income (often via higher taxes and, ironically, worker protection laws) changes the tradeoff between driving and taking pub trans, so more people take the bus. The tradeoff is that a lot of people live in small boxes. And european governments have plenty of bs job creation engines like roadwork, too. Would be nice to have some data. One related observation, that seems less surprising the longer I live here, is that europe has no spacex, google, tesla, nasa, coherent mars rovers, the list goes on... if you give people stuff, they're mostly just afraid someone's going to take it away. But yeah, to echo someone else's comment, I'd rather be poor, or even average, in Europe. I guess being super wealthy here wouldn't be that bad either, since nobody's nipping at your heels.
- reallydontask 7y ago
  > And european governments have plenty of bs job creation engines like roadwork, too. Do you really think that there isn't economic value in roadworks?
  - dillonmckay 7y ago
    US BS job creation is in healthcare, particularly insurance processing and billing, not roads.
    - sschueller 7y ago
      Printing paper checks in the 21st century....