Because people consume them whether we like it or not and they consume them throughout Europe in many cases in greater quantities than we do. It would be ludicrous not to count something in the cpi when it accounts for a high level of expenditure.Why are descressionary luxury goods like alcohol and tobacco in the CPI?
Source?Our labour costs are ninth in the EU,
We the people, through our elected representatives, have decided that we should have high taxes on tobacco and MUP's and high taxes on alcohol. The fact that these decisions are a major reason we have high consumer prices is great news as we can choose to buy them or not.Because people consume them whether we like it or not and they consume them throughout Europe in many cases in greater quantities than we do. It would be ludicrous not to count something in the cpi when it accounts for a high level of expenditure.
The rest of Europe? Have you been to Denmark?In any case we are way out of line with the rest of Europe regarding pricing in general.
If we are losing FDI investment it's not due to the price of a packet of fags or a Pint.We may not feel it yet but we are starting to lose big FDI investment to the continent due to very high prices here and poor infrastructure
According to that chart we are marginally below countries like Germany, Austria ,Belgium for hourly labour costs but basically at similar levels to the highest wage european countries at 40euros per hour.Eurostat.
Is this survey data? Why does it exclude certain sectors and small enterprises?Eurostat.
We have an Irish Medicines Board that insists on re-regulating medical products that have already been regulated almost to death in the UK or elsewhere. And there is a cost to that.A 400g tub of SudoCrem nappy cream is for sale at £5.80 in the UK, equivalent to approx. €6.80, versus €11.89 for the same product for sale by the same supermarket chain in Ireland. That represents a 75% price premium.
Own-brand paracetamol is for sale at 29p in UK supermarkets, equivalent to about 35c. Irish supermarkets sell branded paracetamol for at least €1.75.
Economies of scale.Broadband is available in the UK for £15-20 per month, if you shop around, compared to typically €35 or more here.
Irish cafe's are very heavily regulated. Your Irish cafe won't last long if you undercharge for coffee.A cup of coffee in a café in the Algarve can be as little as 65c, compared to at least €2.50 here.
The UK is outside the EU. It's the European Medicines Agency that we are duplicating given that under EU law anything they authorise for sale can be sold in any EU country (and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).We have an Irish Medicines Board that insists on re-regulating medical products that have already been regulated almost to death in the UK or elsewhere. And there is a cost to that.
I didn't mention the UK. The person I replied to did. The fact remains that Sudocreme, paracetemol and many other products on which higher prices in Ireland are obvious are ubiquitous across ROI, NI (which presumably remains in the EU for this sort of thing?) & GB.The UK is outside the EU. It's the European Medicines Agency that we are duplicating given that under EU law anything they authorise for sale can be sold in any EU country (and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
The HSE pays around 3 cents per paracetamol tablet so the high prices are more a reflection of the profiteering by pharmacists and distributors, despite the whinging and bleating they do. I got that from a Pharmacist. He's in his early 30's and works as a Locum, getting €800 a day.I didn't mention the UK. The person I replied to did. The fact remains that Sudocreme, paracetemol and many other products on which higher prices in Ireland are obvious are ubiquitous across ROI, NI (which presumably remains in the EU for this sort of thing?) & GB.
There are economies of scale on the mainland though. We are an island so it's just more expensive to do stuff here.According to that chart we are marginally below countries like Germany, Austria ,Belgium for hourly labour costs but basically at similar levels to the highest wage european countries at 40euros per hour.
However that wage buys much less than those countries as our prices are 46% above the average. You are far better off getting 30 euros per hour in Germany than in Ireland and that's the big issue.
It's hard to imagine that literally everywhere from large supermarket multiples to corner shops to pharmacies and other outlets are all conspiring in the scam.The HSE pays around 3 cents per paracetamol tablet so the high prices are more a reflection of the profiteering by pharmacists and distributors, despite the whinging and bleating they do. I got that from a Pharmacist. He's in his early 30's and works as a Locum, getting €800 a day.
Why are medicines so high here? Because that's what the market will stand.
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