Today I saw an interesting piece on TV. They compared prices of a washing machine made by Gorenje here and in Germany, and it seems that it is cheaper by almost 40% in Germany.
So I was curious. I fired up my favorite browser and googled around. Here's what I found:
The price here in Slovenia in their on-line shop: WA61121 model action price is €399.90(used to be €446.90)
Next, I looked for the same model in the UK: WA61121 model costs £265 or €388.44
Now, let us compare the GDP per capita for both countries:
Slovenia: $25,266 (2007 estimate)
UK: $38,624
Now here's the big question. How can something(washing machine in our example) that is being manufactured here in Slovenia be cheaper when being sold abroad, while our GDP per capita is lower? They sell it cheaper, even though they have to transport it all the way to the UK?
I have other things to add, concerning lower quality products getting imported from Eastern Europe, being sold at near Western European prices here, but I am running out of time(work tomorrow). So discuss just the price difference, and we will see how the topic develops tomorrow.
So I was curious. I fired up my favorite browser and googled around. Here's what I found:
The price here in Slovenia in their on-line shop: WA61121 model action price is €399.90(used to be €446.90)
Next, I looked for the same model in the UK: WA61121 model costs £265 or €388.44
Now, let us compare the GDP per capita for both countries:
Slovenia: $25,266 (2007 estimate)
UK: $38,624
Now here's the big question. How can something(washing machine in our example) that is being manufactured here in Slovenia be cheaper when being sold abroad, while our GDP per capita is lower? They sell it cheaper, even though they have to transport it all the way to the UK?
I have other things to add, concerning lower quality products getting imported from Eastern Europe, being sold at near Western European prices here, but I am running out of time(work tomorrow). So discuss just the price difference, and we will see how the topic develops tomorrow.