Things that are more expensive in the US for no reason:

  Healthcare

  Internet access

  College

sighs and adds "The very act of making a purchase"

At least we have cheap gas? farts

▲ Gormo 15 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Internet access isn't particularly expensive in the US.

Healthcare, education, and housing are expensive in the US for the same primary reason: political interventions that simultaneously subsidize demand and restrict supply.

	▲	red-iron-pine 14 hours ago \| parent [-]
		it is for what you get. the US LEC and CLEC system sucks, and I had wayyyy more options in the EU, and in fairly upfront and straightforward ways. e.g. https://documentscontractuels.orange.fr/les-offres-orange-mo...

▲ joenot443 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Bit for bit, internet access is cheaper in America than it is in Canada or Australia.

Canadians like myself have ~40% of our provincial taxes spent on healthcare, so in my case about ~8% of my gross income. Somewhere in the tune of $20k/yr. While I was living in Seattle and filing American, quite a bit less of my gross income went to healthcare. Just food for thought.

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StrauXX 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

But that is not because it's less efficient. With the Canadian system being socialzed and 20k$ being just 8% of your income it is to be expected that you would pay moch more than the median person into the system.

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59percentmore 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"I make $250k CAD a year, my experiences must be representative of, and relevant to, the masses," is a wild thought to have.

Well, maybe I spoke too soon, because my private American healthcare turns out to also be about 8% of my gross income (of $60k)(before copays and my deductible)(and also it's crap). Twinsies!

But yes I agree that it would be awful to have my health needs taken care of and a mere ~160k USD left to spend on everything else.

	▲	joenot443 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Oh I certainly don’t think it’s representative to that of the masses, I was sharing an anecdote. I think either way both of us are in really good shape. In my experience the quality of American care is better in nearly every regard (having experienced both pretty intimately), but the simplicity and the peace of mind of the Canadian system has its benefits too. In either case you end up paying. > But yes I agree that it would be awful to have my health needs taken care of and a mere ~160k USD left to spend on everything else. I’m confused - do you actually think it’s awful?

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vamli 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]

▲ api 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Internet access sort of has a reason: the US is geographically huge and more sprawled out. But that's not enough to explain all of the difference.

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stefanfisk 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That’s not the reason. The required build out has actually already been been paid for: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5.... But the US is so politically broken that corporations could just pocket the money without actually providing the infrastructure.

That does even begin to touch on crazy laws banning people from setting up their own ISP to compete: https://www.techdirt.com/2024/11/07/16-u-s-states-still-ban-....

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Ekaros 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That really explains only small parts. Even the horrible suburbs have little real reason to be that expensive. In the end it is really about lacking actual free market and enabling corporate capture as voted by the voters.

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alistairSH 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That might explain internet pricing in North Dakota, but it doesn't explain it in NYC or DC or LA.

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joenot443 15 hours ago | parent [-]

I pay $40/mo for 500mbps in my Bushwick apartment - is that considered expensive?

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alistairSH 14 hours ago | parent [-]

By US standards? No, probably not.

But, a quick search indicates you can get similar broadband in Glasgow, Scotland for ~15 GBP/month. And Rome, Italy looks like ~25EUR/month.

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stefanfisk 14 hours ago | parent [-]

I’m in Stockholm, and our condo HOA (BRF) includes 1Gbps per unit in the fee for all units because billing individually would cost more in admin than the service itself. We have FTTP and then cat6 to each unit.

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joenot443 10 hours ago | parent [-]

That sounds really convenient! Is it a new building? I know the odd American or Canadian build will have that, but only the newer and more expensive ones.

	▲	stefanfisk 8 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The building is from the 1940s. But this is a pretty common setup for condos in Swedish cities. Rentals usually have access to the same infrastructure but at higher prices due to kickbacks demanded by the landlords from the ISPs. The backbone of it all is a state owned fiber connecting the cities together with municipal fiber. But even outside of the cities FTTP is quite common. There are companies which specialize in finding rural areas where there’s enough interest to justify the cost of connecting them and then coordinating getting an economic association setup to own and manage the local infrastructure.
	▲	Hikikomori 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I had that in Sweden 20 years ago. Typically our local municipality put fiber whenever they dug up anything, so fiber is everywhere.