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When iPhone prices will be adjusted for cost of living, employers can adjust compensation based on the geographical location of the employee. Just because potat

When iPhone prices will be adjusted for cost of living, employers can adjust compensation based on the geographical location of the employee. Just because potato is cheaper in some places, substantial purchases can still cost the same, and sometimes even more, depending on your location.

sourceless 6y ago
Yep. Your average SV engineer might be able to afford a Tesla and still have plenty room to spare in their budget, but your average EU-based engineer doing the same job is never going to get anywhere close.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
  But the SV engineer will be parking their Tesla on the street next to their one-bedroom apartment.
  - tjansen 6y ago
    The EU engineer living in a city apartment probably won't even have the money for a Tesla. They are really expensive on an EU salary.
- oytis 6y ago
  I guess if companies were to go all-remote, and offer equal pay to anyone, based on the sheer numbers the equalized salary will be closer to that on Bangalore rather than SV. So as a EU resident I wouldn't complain much, there are a lot of people who envy our salaries too.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    It doesn't work that way. If outsourced workers produce the same economic value they will eventually get paid the same amount. Incomes in China are rising, not falling. Poverty is the result of low productivity and if you increase productivity you decrease poverty. Imagine if you are building cars worth $20000 for $5000 and undercut western companies. Your car is worth $20000 so instead of undercutting you can just sell it for $20000 and take $15000 profit which then leads to more demand for employees which then leads to increased incomes once unemployment is down.
qsort 6y ago
This. This a thousand times. You'd much rather earn 10x and spend 8x than earn 2x and spend x, because at the end of the day you have twice as much money in the bank. "Cost of living" is a bastardization of the concept of real wages that doesn't even make the slightest economic sense.
laurent92 6y ago
Also the opposite: Sydney is a very nice place to live. But very expensive. Should we boost salaries of people in Sydney so they can sustain living in the sun all year long with rich neighborhoods and a thriving city? And then pay people less in rainy and cold places, just because it’s poorer and disenfranchised and flats are cheap in the polluted area of the city, so your price-per-square-meter is lower? That is why the average cost of living there is lower, after all. If we pay people at their living cost, people will flock to nice places, overpopulating them while cold places will die faster than Detroit. There is no right answer to that. So let’s not “organize” it and let the markets decide.

sourceless 6y ago

Yep. Your average SV engineer might be able to afford a Tesla and still have plenty room to spare in their budget, but your average EU-based engineer doing the same job is never going to get anywhere close.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
But the SV engineer will be parking their Tesla on the street next to their one-bedroom apartment.
- tjansen 6y ago
  The EU engineer living in a city apartment probably won't even have the money for a Tesla. They are really expensive on an EU salary.
oytis 6y ago
I guess if companies were to go all-remote, and offer equal pay to anyone, based on the sheer numbers the equalized salary will be closer to that on Bangalore rather than SV. So as a EU resident I wouldn't complain much, there are a lot of people who envy our salaries too.
- imtringued 6y ago
  It doesn't work that way. If outsourced workers produce the same economic value they will eventually get paid the same amount. Incomes in China are rising, not falling. Poverty is the result of low productivity and if you increase productivity you decrease poverty. Imagine if you are building cars worth $20000 for $5000 and undercut western companies. Your car is worth $20000 so instead of undercutting you can just sell it for $20000 and take $15000 profit which then leads to more demand for employees which then leads to increased incomes once unemployment is down.

qsort 6y ago

This. This a thousand times. You'd much rather earn 10x and spend 8x than earn 2x and spend x, because at the end of the day you have twice as much money in the bank. "Cost of living" is a bastardization of the concept of real wages that doesn't even make the slightest economic sense.

laurent92 6y ago

Also the opposite: Sydney is a very nice place to live. But very expensive. Should we boost salaries of people in Sydney so they can sustain living in the sun all year long with rich neighborhoods and a thriving city? And then pay people less in rainy and cold places, just because it’s poorer and disenfranchised and flats are cheap in the polluted area of the city, so your price-per-square-meter is lower? That is why the average cost of living there is lower, after all. If we pay people at their living cost, people will flock to nice places, overpopulating them while cold places will die faster than Detroit. There is no right answer to that. So let’s not “organize” it and let the markets decide.