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A comment on Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to taxis.

Re:Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to... by xyzzy4 on Sunday August 21, 2016 @12:17AM (#12329333)
As a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, color me unsurprised. This is a tangent but I've also spent some time in India, and a $1.50 Uber ride there would be about $10 in Massachusetts. That has to do with other factors though such as PPP, birth rates and age demographics, immigration policies, number of skilled vs unskilled workers, etc.
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Re:Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to... by robbiep on Sunday August 21, 2016 @12:19AM (#12329338)
And by the big mac index, the cost of living in India is 50% less (at a minimum) than in the US. Direct price comparisons between countries are useless
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Re:Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to... by xyz198 on Sunday August 21, 2016 @01:44AM (#12329586)
The kind of living in India that he is comparing with, nobody defecates in your drinking water either. You are talking about the bottom end of the spectrum where the cost of living is 20-50x cheaper than that of the US.
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Re:Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to... by xyzzy4 on Sunday August 21, 2016 @12:20AM (#12329344)
It's not useless. If something is too expensive in one place (5x-10x in Massachusetts compared to India) then it's evidence of some serious problems. My own theory is that the immigration policies of the US prevent enough unskilled workers from filling the roads with lots of Uber drivers.
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Re:Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to... by mahyarm on Sunday August 21, 2016 @12:21AM (#12329347)
How much is the average GDP per captia in india? Rent? Food? How much is the average low-skill worker make in india vs mass? Is it also 5-10x less?
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Re:Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to... by yazaddaruvala on Sunday August 21, 2016 @01:06AM (#12329482)
> then it's evidence of some serious problems.

There is still currently a human in the car. Human's wage's are hopefully in proportion to the cost of living.

Are you suggesting we actively force Uber drivers to compete for unlivable wages?

You must really like the idea of self driving cars :)

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Re:Massachusetts to tax ride-hailing apps, give the money to... by xyzzy4 on Sunday August 21, 2016 @01:12AM (#12329492)
It would only be unlivable because rent is so high in Massachusetts as well. This is due to over-zealous zoning policies and enforcement, which prevents new real estate from being built.
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