[luau] our economy

[Stan Baptista]

re: It all comes down to the cost of living here,
which is high because of high land prices in Hawaii.
Land prices are high because of Hawaii's location. So
it does all come down to the "price of paradise". 

Land prices are high in California, rent or buying in
or near NY city is also high.  Where I lived in the
Boston area, housing costs could be very high in the
immmediate vacinity of Boston.  In those cases, the
salaries go UP not down.  I'm pretty sure that the
"cost of office space & other overheads" is
exhorbitant in Palo Alto but salaries aren't low there
to keep costs down, far from it.

I think there is more to this and I'm beginning to
believe it has more to do with greed than anything
else.  I don't think it has anything to do with
"living more simply".  Too bad.

--- Vikram Khurana <vkhurana at mail.nmfs.hawaii.edu>
wrote:
> > A personal observation: Nothing is done in Hawaii
> that can be done
> > somewhere else. So, if you are a tech person, your
> future here will most
> > likely depend on supporting an activity that is
> best done here. Tourism,
> > the military, state and local government, home
> repairs for movie stars
> > living on Maui.
> 
> Makes sense. Why would anybody run a business in
> Hawaii which they can run
> on the mainland for much less (hence make more
> profit or compete better with
> other competitors)? It all comes down to the cost of
> living here, which is
> high because of high land prices in Hawaii. Land
> prices are high because of
> Hawaii's location. So it does all come down to the
> "price of paradise". 
> 
> People who do choose to run a business here(a
> business that they could run
> on the mainland if they wanted to) do so because
> they want to live here. To
> compete, they need to match mainland prices. Hence
> need to keep their
> profits low so they dole out lower salaries than
> mainland (cost of office
> space & other overheads is higher here). 
> 
> The only economic factor that would change the poor
> salary situation here is
> if the land mass increased here(go volcanoes) &
> hence the land prices fall.
> Lots of people choose lower salaries to work here
> because "lucky live
> Hawaii". That means living more simply. Isn't that
> the Hawaiian way? It's
> your choice.
> 
> 
> 
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