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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 3, 2024

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Hmm. I’d say £100k is equivalent to $200k in NYC. Sure, housing in London is 60-70% as expensive (still substantially cheaper), but groceries are less than half the price (Manhattan grocery store prices are often double midwestern suburb prices ime, in the UK You pay the same in London for groceries as someone in a town in Lancashire), restaurants and bars are half the price, many services and goods from private healthcare to personal trainers to piano tutors are much less expensive due to lower labor costs, Uber is less expensive, haircuts and cosmetic services are half the price, culture from museums to the opera, ballet and theater is so much less expensive. The only stuff that costs the same are consumer goods sold at identical prices internationally like iPhones and high end makeup.

There are certainly parts of London that have Manhattan prices, but they tend to be those parts where people are either independently wealthy or making ‘Manhattan rich’ salaries anyway.

These are all great points. TBH my view on London prices is based on when I’m there as a tourist so I’m likely doing all the things that are on the higher end of the cost spectrum and then comparing to more “normal” day to day activities in the US.