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The rest of the world has seen the same price increases.

• pavlov 5y ago
  In many places in Europe, four out of five items on that list are provided or managed by the state (child care, education, health care, retirement). Which IMO explains why Europeans tend to feel more comfortable even with salaries that, on paper, are significantly lower. The American middle class is getting squeezed by this particular class of costs.
  • bserge 5y ago
    That's part of it. In most of Europe, if you want good anything, you have to pay for it. Even then, you might not get it, because the system is so benevolently "universal". Europeans are comfortable with lower salaries because they believe they're paying taxes for the greater good. That's often not the case. I speak from experience here and I'm sick of people putting universal healthcare and other European shit on a pedestal. Now, butthurt Europeans and especially little angry German trolls can start downvoting, but remember, ignore something for too long and it can turn into terminal cancer.
  • smaryjerry 5y ago
    Europe is in an even worse position than the US on debt. ECB has already had negative interest rates for the past roughly 5 years. Basically even if you don’t spend money you are losing money just like inflation, then on top of that they have inflation as well.