Two things, that cost us a nation!

[BentBow]

Originally Posted by BentBow

Germany has sky high import taxes!!!!

Originally Posted by Neuling

No. Their import taxes are not high, obviously, as imported stuff is not expensive there. Thus I can import the already imported stuff and still save a lot.

Originally Posted by Neuling

Um, what do you mean when you say Germany has high import taxes? I thought you meant to say that Germany levies high taxes on stuff it imports from abroad, i.e. outside the EU
And that is not the case, quite to the contrary, they have much lower import taxes than in most other EU countries, from which I benefit since there are no import taxes on trade within the EU. I directly benefit from Germany's low import taxes despite living in another EU country.

You did not import anything into Germany to know.

Germany exported it to you.

Kinda what China does for us.

[rbohm]

Originally Posted by vamos

Then how do you explain countries such as Germany? They have more and tougher regulations, higher taxes, high debt, and face the same market uncertainties as the rest of the world. They, too, are swamped with legal and illegal immigrants... and yet, they seem to be doing quite alright.

they also dont have a welfare class like the US does, and they dont have the defense spending the US does, and their normal unemployment rate is higher than the US is. full employment for the US is considered to be around 4% unemployment, for germany i believe it is around 6-7%. one m ore thing is that germany is used to buying things at higher prices, where as here in the US we are used to finding the "deal" and getting the lowest price possible.

Originally Posted by Casper in Dallas

I can think of one major thing that is costing the Nation big time right now, higher inteest rates on our loans, Thanks Teabaggers.
Casper

really? the last time i looked the prime lending rate was 0.25%, and it hasnt gone up since the credit downgrade.

[Neuling]

Originally Posted by BentBow

You did not import anything into Germany to know.

Germany exported it to you.

Kinda what China does for us.

German retailers import the stuff from Asia, just like Portuguese retailers do, from the same manufacturers. But the Germans do it much cheaper, even though it is the very same products. And when I order my stuff from a German retailer, I benefit from the low import taxes there as there are no additional import/export taxes within the EU. That is what I meant.
Same thing between Portugal and Spain. Spain has much lower energy import taxes, so people near the border go to Spain to fill their tanks as gas and diesel are a lot cheaper there.
What is quite expensive in Europe is software. Usually MS software costs more in euros here than it costs in dollars in the US, should be the other way round considering the exchange rate...