Overpriced

The cost of a gallon of gas here is Portland is about 10% higher than in New Orleans. It's the same gas, sold by the game companies and at the same kinds of gas stations. But Portland has a high tax on gas and New Orleans doesn't. This made me think of some things I think cost too much today. It's too pedantic to try to explain the prices, but I think its useful to make the observation because you may have similar wonders about your own country's prices. Here are some excessive prices in the U.S.

* Drugs- most drugs are researched, discovered manufactured and sold in America. But Americans pay way more for those drugs, the identical ones, that the American drug companies send oversees and sell at budget prices. For example, the average American discovered and patented drug sells for 45% more than it sells for in Canada. So Americans are paying higher drug prices to subsidize the cheaper ones in Canada (and other countries)
* Water- A plastic bottle of water (even though almost all American tap water is safe and tasty) here now costs more than a cup of coffee (Starbucks excluded) or a bottle of soda pop. And yet water is the key component in the other two drinks.
* Parking- Why should taxpayers pay to park on public streets? It may be a question greater than, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"
* Athletic shoes- Those nylon, rubber, leather and synthetic shoes now cost on average more than a pair of fine handcrafted leather shoes. When athletic shoes used to be called sneakers, before those price sport star contracts to endorse them, they cost about 1/5 of what the current ones cost.
* College tuition- The cost of a year of college in the U.S, now rises by about 6 percent each year, outpacing wages, inflation, or financial aid, according to the College Board. Some high-priced private colleges now ask more than $50,000 a year. The sticker price for an academic year at a typical public university is $16,400: $5,836 for tuition and fees, almost $7,000 for room and board, and an additional $3,500 or so for books, travel, and entertainment, the College Board estimated. Hmmmm It might pay to be smart, but students shouldn't have to pay that much.
* Cell Phones- Let me say it first because you know I will...Cell phones are worthless objects... That felt good! Yet they cost so much. The average cell phone bill is for a family of four users is from $100 to $200, depending on the plan and company cheating the users. Four land line phones that all four can use privately costs about $20 per month. But then any addiction, cigarettes, heroine, crack or cell phones is always expensive.
* Greeting cards- Not the on-line cards that are mostly free, the paper ones. Some of them cost more than the present given with them.
* Starbucks coffee- If I need to explain this then you are an alien from outer space.
* Concert T shirts- The Lada Gaga concert in portland here last week charged $40 for basic T shirts. The mark-up on that one is about 800%, and it's not atypical.

Take a sip of your bottled water while putting on your Gaga T shirt and Nike's and feel free to give me a few more. Those all recalled just off the top of my head.