Not knowing the exact cost of things you’re buying is ridiculously annoying. When I travel to Europe or Asia it’s such a pleasure to buy something and it’s actually the advertised price. Add to that the fact that since advertised prices tend to be round numbers, in the US you end up with prices like 4.13 and end up with a bunch of pennies as opposed to just paying 4 bucks in most other countries.
Also, the whole “know where your money is going” is a highly ideological argument. I know where my money is going when the highly publicized tax rates are changed in a budget. In most countries news organizations will spend weeks every year, if not months, discussing the expected changes in the budget.
In the meanwhile, I have absolutely 0 idea what percentage of the money I’m paying to buy a coke is going to pay lobbyists and politicians to ensure they can continue using HFCS, and preventing proper labeling from being implemented, or what percentage of the money goes into advertising to ensure kids (and I stay hooked onto Coke), or what percentage of my money goes to ensure they get primary access to all the water in a region already suffering from drought, etc.
I understand that, but the Foobar8568 is saying "The price is 4 + tax in the US, so it'd be 4.95 in Europe." Why wouldn't it be 4 in Europe if the European price has tax already included? Why would the European vendor add on an extra .95?
I assume Foobar8568 is saying the cost per unit is 4, and the price with or without tax is derived from there, but there's no reason to believe that's the case. The cost of something and the price shops charge for it are largely unrelated. The cost might be 1, and the shops might just add on 3 for profit. In the US the sales-without-tax pricing means they can get away with adding on 3 plus an extra .13 for tax. In Europe it might be the case that they can't, and the profit for the shop is a little less because VAT comes out of their cut instead of something extra the buyer pays.
We don't know. We can't know. The point here is that there shouldn't be an automatic assumption that the US way is better, and that including the tax in the price would lead to higher prices. I believe that's what Foobar8568 was implying.
Also, the whole “know where your money is going” is a highly ideological argument. I know where my money is going when the highly publicized tax rates are changed in a budget. In most countries news organizations will spend weeks every year, if not months, discussing the expected changes in the budget.
In the meanwhile, I have absolutely 0 idea what percentage of the money I’m paying to buy a coke is going to pay lobbyists and politicians to ensure they can continue using HFCS, and preventing proper labeling from being implemented, or what percentage of the money goes into advertising to ensure kids (and I stay hooked onto Coke), or what percentage of my money goes to ensure they get primary access to all the water in a region already suffering from drought, etc.