Comparsion of supermarket prices Montevideo vs BA

[sergio]

 

[Aztangogirl]

Uruguay is as expensive as the United States.

 

[Ries]

That video is unwatchable, giving me a migraine just trying.
but having been to Uruguay many times, I would agree that most things there are at least double or triple here, although it seems like Milei is doing his best to make us more like Uruguay. Since many of the underlying economic facts are similar, its pretty unreasonable to expect that Chinese imports will magically be less here than they are there, or that a lowering on import duties will change much. Uruguay has lower import taxes on most things, and higher prices.

 

[sergio]

That video is unwatchable, giving me a migraine just trying.
but having been to Uruguay many times, I would agree that most things there are at least double or triple here, although it seems like Milei is doing his best to make us more like Uruguay. Since many of the underlying economic facts are similar, its pretty unreasonable to expect that Chinese imports will magically be less here than they are there, or that a lowering on import duties will change much. Uruguay has lower import taxes on most things, and higher prices.

Seriously, what makes Uruguay so expensive?

 

[Ries]

The free market. Plus, due to having no import controls, virtually nothing is made there. Imports are expensive. In Argentina you can buy a new Fiat Chronos car made here for $10,000 USD, or an imported car for double or triple what it costs where its made. A new porsche SUV is a quarter million dollars in Vincente Lopez at the dealer. In Uruguay, everything more complicated than a bottle of coke is imported.

 

[antipodean]

The free market.

A free market or a small market of only 3.000.000 at the ass end of the world?

Ah yes, if only FIAT had multi-million dollar factories and import controls to churn out Cronuses in their tens of thousands for Uruguayos in Uruguay…

 

[JeffR]

Most recently, the middle of last year, I spent a few months in Montevideo, in Buenos Aires, and also spend time in Cuenca, Ecuador. I think it’s a little unfair to cherry pick and compare the low price of a certain thing in one country to the higher price of the same thing in another country. Here’s what I mean:

Rents in Cuenca run at least 50% less – if not more - than a similar place in BA. Grocery prices and appliances from a supermarket are similar to what one might pay at a Disco Fresh in MVD. Of course, it is possible to find lower prices. MVD has street markets throughout the week and Cuenca has its mercados. However, Cuenca is at best an average place to live, and is not and never will be comparable to BA or MVD.

Buenos Aires is one of the top urban centers of the world, similar to Paris, London, etc. Yet by that comparison prices overall are absurdly cheap, especially if one has the privilege of being able to arbitrage the USD, Euro, or Loonie. Inflation and the economy are unpredictable. Within a few months of travelling to BA, my pesos have lost half of their value.

When I am in Argentina, there is an unnatural and unhealthy preoccupation with the exchange rate. Perhaps Milei will fix this, but I am not going to hold my breath. Will I keep spending time in Argentina? Absolutely. The culture, food and wine are incredible, and the women are some of the most beautiful in the world, in my humble opinion.

Uruguay boasts economic and political stability, generally speaking, and that is part of what one is paying for. Whenever I return, my pesos have the same value as when I left. Yes, some aspects are more expensive, depending on one’s point of reference. And I will absolutely return to Uruguay. I don’t have to worry about my money or wealth being confiscated through inflation or gyrating economic policies, and the overall culture is wonderful, though not so much as in Argentina.

 

[Ries]

A free market or a small market of only 3.000.000 at the ass end of the world?

Ah yes, if only FIAT had multi-million dollar factories and import controls to churn out Cronuses in their tens of thousands for Uruguayos in Uruguay…

the reason Argentina has Ford, Fiat, Toyota, and Renault/Citroen factories is not the size of the country. Its only 40 million people. Columbia has more people, and fewer factories. Peronism, since the 40s, has been tipping the scales towards Industria Argentina. Its why there are still steel mills, stamping plants, textile mills, shoe factories, mass production of hand tools, transformers, food prep equipment, commercial laundry machines, and dozens more industrial products here, and many of those things are no longer made in the USA, which has just a few more people.
When i buy screws, or a hammer, or fabric, in the USA, its made in China. When I buy it here, its Industria Argentina.

Every law, every regulation, every tariff, every bureaucrat benefits somebody, and hurts somebody else, economically.
Argentina has laws that have kept industry here. Uruguay, and the US, do not.
This was intentional, and, to a large degree, it worked.
Uruguay does not have a similar industrial policy.
They have hitched their wagon to tourism, liberal banking laws, and some exports of raw materials.
In many many social measurement caterories, from literacy to life expectancy to education, Uruguay and Argentina are very very similar.
The big difference is the government here decided to build things, and there, to raise cows.

An Overview of the Economic History of Uruguay since the 1870s – EH.net

eh.net

 

[Silvie]

Uruguay is as expensive as the United States.

Not at all but again, it depends specifically on which cities you're comparing

 

[antipodean]

the reason Argentina has Ford, Fiat, Toyota, and Renault/Citroen factories is not the size of the country. Its only 40 million people. Columbia has more people, and fewer factories. Peronism, since the 40s, has been tipping the scales towards Industria Argentina. Its why there are still steel mills, stamping plants, textile mills, shoe factories, mass production of hand tools, transformers, food prep equipment, commercial laundry machines, and dozens more industrial products here, and many of those things are no longer made in the USA, which has just a few more people.
When i buy screws, or a hammer, or fabric, in the USA, its made in China. When I buy it here, its Industria Argentina.

Every law, every regulation, every tariff, every bureaucrat benefits somebody, and hurts somebody else, economically.
Argentina has laws that have kept industry here. Uruguay, and the US, do not.
This was intentional, and, to a large degree, it worked.
Uruguay does not have a similar industrial policy.
They have hitched their wagon to tourism, liberal banking laws, and some exports of raw materials.
In many many social measurement caterories, from literacy to life expectancy to education, Uruguay and Argentina are very very similar.
The big difference is the government here decided to build things, and there, to raise cows.

An Overview of the Economic History of Uruguay since the 1870s – EH.net

eh.net

And in Colombia it is still cheaper (or similar) to buy a car, all of which are imported, than in Argentina or Uruguay.

You blame the "free market" for Uruguay being expensive and suggest it would be better off just copying Argentina economic policies. In this magical fantastical vision, where would it export made-in-montevideo Fiat's to? Argentina? Brazil? (Countries that already make their own...) Or you actually expect someone to invest hundereds of millions of dollars to build a car factory to make a few models for just 3.000.000 people, all with their own personal preferences and needs, and that this would somehow result in cheaper consumer prices there?

Anyhow, Uruguay has always been expensive. I remeber visiting more than a decade ago when Mujica was el presidente and paying almost US$25 for Nivea sunscreen (more than double the cost of Argentina or Europe at the time). Even a bottle of beer was eyewateringly expensive in comparison. This is not news and the fact that Argentines find prices there caríssimo today speak more of Argentina than they do of Uruguay.