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While Master Card and a Visa there is a EU regulation limiting the fees, health insurance is mainly national level. So you could ask the question why is Ozempic

While Master Card and a Visa there is a EU regulation limiting the fees, health insurance is mainly national level. So you could ask the question why is Ozempic cheap in Australia? But I can't answer your question.

0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
This website appears to indicate that Visa/Mastercard fees are about 6x as high in the US vs EU: https://wallethub.com/edu/credit-card-interchange-fees-by-country/129627 https://wallethub.com/edu/credit-card-interchange-fees-by-co... The EU had such a good deal with the US. But they couldn't resist making fun of us. They made fun of us for our military spending while we deterred Russia. They made fun of us for our health spending while we subsidized their drug development costs. They made fun of our long work hours, while demanding Ukraine contributions based on our high GDP (which is high in part because we work long hours). They talk so much about America's soft power in Europe, without realizing that Europe's soft power in America is practically all gone at this point.
- aucisson_masque 9mo ago
  You are paying more for everything because your country is extremely anti social, people alone have no leverage to negotiate prices with visa, pharmaceutics and so on. Trump is only pushing that « free for all » policy even more, I wouldn’t expect to see things improve for you. Instead of fixing your country and making the rich accountable, you’re being manipulated to look elsewhere. Anyway, I believe that the eu cutting ties with the USA is the best thing that could happen to us and I’m glad you’re satisfied. We should have spent much more on military and put an end to the USA military supremacy across the world a long time ago.
  - 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
    Yes, I am very happy to see Europe develop its own military-industrial complex. That way, whenever something bad happens in the world, you will be "complicit" if you sit by, and "imperialist" if you take action. It's a lot of fun!
    - kergonath 9mo ago
      Come on, it’s already been that way for more than a century. Old imperial powers cannot do a thing or its opposite without endless recriminations. We’re used to it.
      - 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
        For the past few decades I've only seen the US constantly criticized as either "complicit" or "imperialist". We tried to take responsibility for everything and it got us nothing but hate. Hopefully it will be Europe's turn soon.
        seba_dos1 9mo ago
        That's a very childlike understanding of the world around you, I'm afraid.
        0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
        It goes to show how pointless it is to chase 'soft power' by appealing to global public opinion. Even in democratic countries, most leaders have sub-50% approval. So even if the US was run by a politician chosen by a global electorate, we would most likely still be hated. And of course good intentions are no guarantee of good results, e.g. I believe Bush had good intentions with Iraq, he was just incompetent. China is very smart to simply not get involved in much of anything. As soon as you do something, it gives people the opportunity to blame you, if even a single person thinks the result is even a little bit less than perfect. Switzerland is the smartest.
        0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
        If you're trying to imply that I have a childlike understanding... in that case, I appreciate you reinforcing the points I've made in this thread, namely (a) Europeans are condescending jerks, and (b) Europeans will airily claim "Americans are ignorant" but rarely have much interesting evidence to back up their claims. Our relationship with Europe is not very important for American prosperity. The GDP growth trend is the same before and after NATO was founded: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/GDP_per_person_in_the_United_States.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/GDP_per_...
- hermanzegerman 9mo ago
  Okay, so you're mad that your country is too stupid to regulate it's own business? The regulation also forced all merchants to accept Visa/MC without being able to surcharge a fee for it. Both Companies are quite happy with that deal as it boasted the adoption for their cards across Europe
  - 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
    See this illustrates my point. The "soft power" talking point I sometimes see from Europeans is a complete lie. The idea is that giving Europe relatively favorable terms will cause Europe to regard the US well is a fabrication. In reality, giving Europe favorable terms just causes Europeans to view Americans as suckers.
    - kergonath 9mo ago
      You are deluded. Nobody "gave Europe a sweet deal". Those are the rules of the land. Companies are free to reject them, in which case they just cannot do business here. We did not force them to come. The fact that they are still obviously making tons of money in the EU should tell you how you are being taken advantage of.
      - 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
        So you acknowledge that this point about "protection money" (the point I was originally responding to) is nonsense then. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46736657 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46736657
        hermanzegerman 9mo ago
        Protection Money is as much nonsense as "Europeans are ripping off Americans in Trade". Because they always conveniently leave out services, which would make the Balance between the US/EU even
        kergonath 9mo ago
- kergonath 9mo ago
  > The EU had such a good deal with the US. There are regulations. Both Visa and Mastercard were happy with those and made quite a lot of money from their business in the EU. They absorbed and merged with local alternatives and competitors. It’s a bit rich to complain after the game has been going on for a while that the rules are as they are: they’ve always been that way and if they were not happy, they could just have ignored the European markets. Now, if your point is that you’re being shafted, then congratulations: realising is the first step towards solving. Now, vote for a government that will actually regulate the sector in the people’s favour, not the big corps. We cannot help you for that.
  - 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
    I'm not complaining about Visa or Mastercard fees in the US. I am pointing out the absurdity of the original European claim that such fees are "protection money" to the US, when the EU is getting a sweetheart deal relative to the US. It's typical disingenuous European rhetoric.
    - hermanzegerman 9mo ago
      Europe is not getting a "sweetheart deal". I know it's difficult for you to comprehend, but Governments are supposed to act in the interest of the general population of their country, not for companies and the 1%. And that includes making sure that markets are working and regulating (near) monopolies
    - lava_pidgeon 9mo ago
      Who claimed which money is protection money of US?

0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago

This website appears to indicate that Visa/Mastercard fees are about 6x as high in the US vs EU: https://wallethub.com/edu/credit-card-interchange-fees-by-country/129627 https://wallethub.com/edu/credit-card-interchange-fees-by-co... The EU had such a good deal with the US. But they couldn't resist making fun of us. They made fun of us for our military spending while we deterred Russia. They made fun of us for our health spending while we subsidized their drug development costs. They made fun of our long work hours, while demanding Ukraine contributions based on our high GDP (which is high in part because we work long hours). They talk so much about America's soft power in Europe, without realizing that Europe's soft power in America is practically all gone at this point.

aucisson_masque 9mo ago
You are paying more for everything because your country is extremely anti social, people alone have no leverage to negotiate prices with visa, pharmaceutics and so on. Trump is only pushing that « free for all » policy even more, I wouldn’t expect to see things improve for you. Instead of fixing your country and making the rich accountable, you’re being manipulated to look elsewhere. Anyway, I believe that the eu cutting ties with the USA is the best thing that could happen to us and I’m glad you’re satisfied. We should have spent much more on military and put an end to the USA military supremacy across the world a long time ago.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
  Yes, I am very happy to see Europe develop its own military-industrial complex. That way, whenever something bad happens in the world, you will be "complicit" if you sit by, and "imperialist" if you take action. It's a lot of fun!
  - kergonath 9mo ago
    Come on, it’s already been that way for more than a century. Old imperial powers cannot do a thing or its opposite without endless recriminations. We’re used to it.
    - 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
      For the past few decades I've only seen the US constantly criticized as either "complicit" or "imperialist". We tried to take responsibility for everything and it got us nothing but hate. Hopefully it will be Europe's turn soon.
      - seba_dos1 9mo ago
        That's a very childlike understanding of the world around you, I'm afraid.
        0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
        It goes to show how pointless it is to chase 'soft power' by appealing to global public opinion. Even in democratic countries, most leaders have sub-50% approval. So even if the US was run by a politician chosen by a global electorate, we would most likely still be hated. And of course good intentions are no guarantee of good results, e.g. I believe Bush had good intentions with Iraq, he was just incompetent. China is very smart to simply not get involved in much of anything. As soon as you do something, it gives people the opportunity to blame you, if even a single person thinks the result is even a little bit less than perfect. Switzerland is the smartest.
        0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
        If you're trying to imply that I have a childlike understanding... in that case, I appreciate you reinforcing the points I've made in this thread, namely (a) Europeans are condescending jerks, and (b) Europeans will airily claim "Americans are ignorant" but rarely have much interesting evidence to back up their claims. Our relationship with Europe is not very important for American prosperity. The GDP growth trend is the same before and after NATO was founded: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/GDP_per_person_in_the_United_States.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/GDP_per_...
hermanzegerman 9mo ago
Okay, so you're mad that your country is too stupid to regulate it's own business? The regulation also forced all merchants to accept Visa/MC without being able to surcharge a fee for it. Both Companies are quite happy with that deal as it boasted the adoption for their cards across Europe
- 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
  See this illustrates my point. The "soft power" talking point I sometimes see from Europeans is a complete lie. The idea is that giving Europe relatively favorable terms will cause Europe to regard the US well is a fabrication. In reality, giving Europe favorable terms just causes Europeans to view Americans as suckers.
  - kergonath 9mo ago
    You are deluded. Nobody "gave Europe a sweet deal". Those are the rules of the land. Companies are free to reject them, in which case they just cannot do business here. We did not force them to come. The fact that they are still obviously making tons of money in the EU should tell you how you are being taken advantage of.
    - 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
      So you acknowledge that this point about "protection money" (the point I was originally responding to) is nonsense then. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46736657 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46736657
      - hermanzegerman 9mo ago
        Protection Money is as much nonsense as "Europeans are ripping off Americans in Trade". Because they always conveniently leave out services, which would make the Balance between the US/EU even
      - kergonath 9mo ago
kergonath 9mo ago
> The EU had such a good deal with the US. There are regulations. Both Visa and Mastercard were happy with those and made quite a lot of money from their business in the EU. They absorbed and merged with local alternatives and competitors. It’s a bit rich to complain after the game has been going on for a while that the rules are as they are: they’ve always been that way and if they were not happy, they could just have ignored the European markets. Now, if your point is that you’re being shafted, then congratulations: realising is the first step towards solving. Now, vote for a government that will actually regulate the sector in the people’s favour, not the big corps. We cannot help you for that.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 9mo ago
  I'm not complaining about Visa or Mastercard fees in the US. I am pointing out the absurdity of the original European claim that such fees are "protection money" to the US, when the EU is getting a sweetheart deal relative to the US. It's typical disingenuous European rhetoric.
  - hermanzegerman 9mo ago
    Europe is not getting a "sweetheart deal". I know it's difficult for you to comprehend, but Governments are supposed to act in the interest of the general population of their country, not for companies and the 1%. And that includes making sure that markets are working and regulating (near) monopolies
  - lava_pidgeon 9mo ago
    Who claimed which money is protection money of US?