Retail Prices
Most of the "free" world outside the us has astronomical taxes and low salaries, to support varying levels of socialized medicine and sometimes decent public transport. They also have remnants of various totaliarian governments and old boy networks you wouldn't believe. The result is it's hard to get into business and hard to stay in business, thus a poor competitive environment, from the consumer point of view.
I'm NOT bashing our friends here. Many countries have laudable things about them we would do well to emulate, BUT our competition and bigger market do work to our advantage. If Stihl got too expensive here, we'd just start making good saws again, which we could easily do. Does anyone realize the VAST amount of Caterpillar construction equipment that we sell right into the teeth of fine stuff from Japan?
My personal experience in the business world is limited to Japan, Australia, Maylaysia (I'm always misspelling that one), Norway, Sweden, France, and Germany, but that's a fair sample.
We may be fat and we are certainly lazy, but watch out if we get mad!
How 'bout that shuttle (yep, it's fat too but it's also the only one up there!
).
