Trying to get a feel for english money

I have been watching a lot of top gear and I want to better understand how much cars cost over there. This is an abstract thought, so read close....

They say Mercedes A200 Turbo costs £33,000, that makes its $61,150 (US) car at current exchange rates. Now no one would buy a car like that for that much money. No $33,000 US sounds more reasonable. So here is my question. To the people of there respective countries is a dollar worth the same as a pound to the people? For example, a McDonalds hamburger costs $.79 in the US, does it cost around £.79 in UK?
I've heard here in the US the average fast food employee makes $19,000 a year, is the yearly income in England for fast food workers £19,000?

A Focus Zetec in the UK is £13,595
A Base Focus in the US is $13,995

Is my question understandable? I am trying to relate to Top Gear when they talk about how cheap, or how expensive something is.

A fast food employee in the US working full time makes $10,712 before taxes.

okay so does an english employee make 10,712 quid before taxes?

It's called an exchange rate and it's constantly changing. I don't understand what you're confused about? You cannot directly compare the prices of goods to get a good understanding of the currency exchange because a huge range of factors influence the prices of things - market size, availability of local products and produce, cost to import something, margin etc.

dude, it depends on what you are comparing...ex, cigarettes in spain are less than $3 a pack. Here, they are about $5. Gas, though, is like $5 a gallon there and $3 here. It all depends on the supply/demand and taxes/duties of said product.

www.x-rates.com

Every one who said look at exchange rates, re-read my first post. I am really just comparing cars. Okay lets go reallllllllly basic, is anyone here english??? If your mom or dad asks you to clean the car or do a chore how much money to you get? Here parents generally give their kids like $5. What I am saying is, to the PEOPLE is a dollar as hard to earn a pound, not is $1.88 as hard to earn as £1.

You must be retarded.

A number of people have answered your question quite well. The difficulty of earning a dollar OR a pound will be subjective to the individual - their skills, experience and knowledge.

You cannot directly compare things like the cost of cars or food because of the mind boggling array of factors that can influence the price!!

I understand what you mean. Like you said, a base focus in the US is about $14,000. I don't know how much a zetec is here though. I think you can get a low end kia or hyundai for around 8 or 9 thousand bucks new.

Our minimum wage is 6.25 in most places, and a gallon of gas is about $3.

If you work for minimum wage 40 hours a week for all 52 weeks of the year you would earn $13,000.00 before taxes. Taxes would take between 3000 and 4000. You would net $9,000-$10,000.

To make more than $24,000 per year you would have to make $12/hour. if the pound is 1.88 dollars you're lookin at (in pounds) 6.38/hour and 13276/year just to survive. So 12$/hr will make you one base model ford focus and an extra $10,000/year (before taxes which are around 25%).

To make $12/hour you have to do construction or landscaping or work nights, or work for tips if you have no experience in anything. You could get a job as a secretary if you know how to use MS Word and type 30 wpm and start at about $10-12/ hour. People at the mall make about $8/hr. Retail pays between $7 and $9 per hour. To get any more than $12 per hour you need experience or certifications in something.

Not to mention cost of living. A dollar goes a hell of alot further in East Bumblef**k then it does in, say, Boston, Manhattan, etc.
On top of that, they are constantly changing as said above. When I lived in Germany for 3 years, I saw the DM drop almost 40 cents.
There are simply too many factors, as Oz and everyone else said, you simply cannot compare them.

You're talking about PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), which states that the exchange rate between two currencies adjusts automatically to take into account their respective inflation rates. A good therefore ought to cost the same regardless of which country it is bought in - the law of ONE PRICE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity

When it comes to cars, PPP doesn't work. As you say, a car that costs $20k in the US is likely to cost ~£20k (maybe slightly less) in the UK.

A BMW Z4M costs ~42k in the UK, how much is it in the US?

don't forget that the A200 turbo in question was a fully optioned up model so the £cost of it is higher than list price anyway so you saying
They say Mercedes A200 Turbo costs £33,000.
and
no one would buy a car like that for that much money.
is mostly true, except it isn't because it is:
$61,150 (US) car at current exchange rates.

it is mostly true because not a lot of people looking to spend £30,000 on a mercedes is going to be buying an A-Class. £30,000 is C-Class money.

Thank you crayzayjack, I just was trying to understand, what is "expensive" to someone in england. Which I know that term also depends on your job.

You're talking about PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), which states that the exchange rate between two currencies adjusts automatically to take into account their respective inflation rates. A good therefore ought to cost the same regardless of which country it is bought in - the law of ONE PRICE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity


NOOOOOO!!! :eek: Memories of Macroecon!... Dr. Nwarfor!....

Damn you crazayjay, I had wiped all recollection of that class from memory. As a matter of fact, this entire thread is taking me back to ENC 3702. Damn you all.

Thank you crayzayjack, ...
:lol:

crayzayjack at your service :lol:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GNIPC.pdf













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Puchasing power is about the same in the UK as it is in the States for some things...our petrol and cars are so much more expensive because...Petrol has about 80% tax added to it. Cars are more expensive due to funny UK import duty on cars, plus us paying more for less common RHD cars. A £1 in McDonalds would buy you about the same as $1 would in the States, and having lived in a few countries...1 of whatever country you live in buys about the same as 1 whatever in the next country unless your unlucky to live in a country where the economy has crashed and it costs like 10,000 for a loaf of bread.

Like Japan?

:D

Japan only has one denomination of currency (like I think Italy used to).

ie, it's like buying everything in cents instead of dollars and cents. ($1.50 for a burger = 150 cents, etc)

Japan only has one denomination of currency (like I think Italy used to).



What you mean is they have one denomination, they just don't break it down in fractions like lots of other countrys do :)

Yeah, that :)

j00 guys cracks me up :lol: