I love the free healthcare, which is paid for by our higher taxes, which I am very happy to pay because of the benefits I (and, more importantly, other people w

I love the free healthcare, which is paid for by our higher taxes, which I am very happy to pay because of the benefits I (and, more importantly, other people worse off than me) get as a result. Higher taxes in the UK do not, however, explain why the same product is 1.6x more expensive here. Part of the different will be accounted for by VAT (20%) and import duty (14% for this product, I think), but nowhere near all. Incidentally, the US has import duty too. (But I think it's generally lower than for the UK.)