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Kwhite1
thank you for that article..
[quote=”Kwhite1″][quote=”davidd”]the only way to do this is to go the extra mile and set up in places like Hong Kong..
and just draw a salary
[quote=”Scott”]My comments earlier this morning discussing this on Facebook were:
“Big Brother now firmly entrenched in Costa Rica as country agrees to automatically share banking and tax information. “….we are determined to tackle cross-border tax fraud and tax evasion and to promote international tax compliance through mutual administrative assistance in tax matters and a level playing field…”
See the [url=http://www.oecd.org/mcm/MCM-2014-Declaration-Tax.pdf]May 6th 2014 OECD document here.[/url]
A little country like Costa Rica – which needs to be able to trabsfer US dollars through the international system – really has no power to stand up against the U.S. financial authorities if it wants to be able to continue to move dollars…
[/quote][/quote]Well my friend…Hong Kong is out now, they complied…..https://www.kpmg.com/cn/en/services/tax/us-corporate-tax/foreign-account-tax-compliance-act/pages/default.aspx
I also read that Switzerland also caved, the only places are the likes of Iran, Russia and some other not so nice countries. I wonder if Fiji jumped on as well?
Onto some good news though, Costa Rica was named #9 out of 10 best places to survive during WWIII, which may be just around the corner, war is good for boosting economies (so I’ve heard). Ok sarcasm off now….[/quote]Kwhite
the only way to do this is to go the extra mile and set up in places like Hong Kong..
and just draw a salary
[quote=”Scott”]My comments earlier this morning discussing this on Facebook were:
“Big Brother now firmly entrenched in Costa Rica as country agrees to automatically share banking and tax information. “….we are determined to tackle cross-border tax fraud and tax evasion and to promote international tax compliance through mutual administrative assistance in tax matters and a level playing field…”
See the [url=http://www.oecd.org/mcm/MCM-2014-Declaration-Tax.pdf]May 6th 2014 OECD document here.[/url]
A little country like Costa Rica – which needs to be able to trabsfer US dollars through the international system – really has no power to stand up against the U.S. financial authorities if it wants to be able to continue to move dollars…
[/quote][quote=”Scott”]Isn’t he extraordinarily young to be so extraordinarily wealthy? He has $100,000,000? And he’s not even a hedge fund manager? 😉
The environmental concerns of building an interoceanic canal are surely enormous, don’t you think?
Scott
[/quote]the environmental concerns are large but also the potential for growth to Nicaragua.
Appliance manufacturer Mabe lays off 350 employees at Heredia plant
more layoffs..
http://insidecostarica.com/2014/05/07/appliance-manufacturer-mabe-lays-350-employees-heredia-plant/
Scott
mate thanks for that explanation.. always enjoy hearing all sides..
I never even thought about subsidies being a culprit for these lower imported prices..
[quote=”Scott”][quote=”davidd”][quote=”sprite”]I don’t know if this anecdote is significant or even news, but the wife and I were shopping at the farmer’s market in Atenas a few weeks ago and I noticed among all the beautiful, fresh local produce on display, strands of wrapped garlic with country of origin markings of “China.” The vendor explained it is cheaper to pay the import prices than to grow it. I wouldnt be surprised to see this in a super market, but at a farmer’s market?!!![/quote]
Sprite
this is interesting!!!! how can importing a vegetable actually be cheaper than growing it here????
[/quote]
==============================================
As far as I know Costa Rica is simply not capable of subsidizing a variety of foodstuffs as they do in the U.S. and in the European Union so the reality is that these prices are artificially low.
A subsidy paid by the EU to dairy farmers is part of a Europe-wide initiative called the Common Agriculture Policy to provide farmers with a reasonable standard of living, consumers with quality food at fair prices and to preserve rural heritage.
I’m assuming that this is why my favourite goat and blue cheeses comes from Denmark and are priced lower than the locally made cheeses.
Dr. Mercola wrote about this at: [url=http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/03/the-9-foods-the-us-government-is-paying-you-to-eat.aspx]The 9 Foods the U.S. Government is Paying You to Eat[/url]
Corn
Wheat
Soybeans
Rice
Beer
Milk
Beef
Peanut Butter
Sunflower OilAnd of course who can compete with Chinese labour costs? We certainly can not ….
Does that make sense?[/quote]
Sprite
have to agree 100% with you on this.. I would NEVER EAT anything imported from China..
if you go to stores like pequeno mundo.. you will see lots of cheap Chinese products.. and people just go on and buy them and consume them..
crazy
[quote=”Imxploring”][quote=”sprite”]I don’t know if this anecdote is significant or even news, but the wife and I were shopping at the farmer’s market in Atenas a few weeks ago and I noticed among all the beautiful, fresh local produce on display, strands of wrapped garlic with country of origin markings of “China.” The vendor explained it is cheaper to pay the import prices than to grow it. I wouldnt be surprised to see this in a super market, but at a farmer’s market?!!![/quote]
The supermarkets are already flooded with Chinese products in CR. And keep in mind that with all the unsafe Chinese products that managed to make it to market in the US before being identified and recalled even with the current regulations and FDA oversight… I’d be VERY concerned with what might be slipping by the regulators watching imports in CR.
China doesn’t want conquests… it want consumers.[/quote]
[quote=”sprite”]I don’t know if this anecdote is significant or even news, but the wife and I were shopping at the farmer’s market in Atenas a few weeks ago and I noticed among all the beautiful, fresh local produce on display, strands of wrapped garlic with country of origin markings of “China.” The vendor explained it is cheaper to pay the import prices than to grow it. I wouldnt be surprised to see this in a super market, but at a farmer’s market?!!![/quote]
Sprite
this is interesting!!!! how can importing a vegetable actually be cheaper than growing it here????
SCott
thanks for putting that video up.. yes I speak fluent spanish.. this brings up a point regarding consuming news from the perspective of Costa Rica as opposed to a translated version coming from some RSS feed.
In my opinion I feel something wicked this way comes.. 🙂
seeing too many trend lines moving in the same direction
on a street level
I have seen more than a few times… and would love feedback from anyone’s who has observed teh same
Imported products being priced the same or LESS than actual products being made here.
this would initially defy logic
but I feel this is a indication of the rising costs of doing business here.
I recently did a
product comparison study of 30 products.. using pricesmart as an example
since pricesmart is also in Nicaragua..
the same exact products costs 30-50% more in Costa Rica.
should be interesting when these trend lines begin to cross over…
imagine intels recent let go of 3000 well educated english speaking employee’s being released into the marketplace.. soon they will realize that there are no jobs at the same level so they begin to take the jobs of the lower economic class of people.. retails stores, etc..
where do these people go look for jobs??
interesting times..
Scott
what are your thoughts on a local level??
[quote=”Scott”]RETURNING to the topic of this Discussion Forum thread:
For those of you who speak Spanish…
[/quote]
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”sprite”]You do have a strange, illogical world view.[/quote]
If that’s true then I have a lot of company. I’ve never heard of petitions being passed around to reduce the numbers of police around, but often hear people complain that there should be more of them.
You, then, are in favor of no security forces? We used to have a system like that in human society and it didn’t seem to work that well.[/quote]
Sweikert
Sprite made a very VALID point in reference to security.
the very fact that Costa Rica does not feel the need to have the same level of security forces than Isreal.. on the contrary makes this country more secure
if it was less secure
you would have more security..
does this make sense??
Sprite
your about those 2 items.. democracy is basically MOB rules
if 51% wants to VOTE a law to take your house for the good of everyone.. and the 49% vote against.. then your S.O.L.
in a perfect world we would be living ina republic like originally intended.
AUTHOR: Benjamin Franklin (1706–90)
QUOTATION: “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
Capitalism.. I am a capitalist!! and proudly so.. I think Capitalism gets a bad rap..
sure you have greedy bastards.. dont get me wrong BUT I dont see being a capitalist anything to be a shamed of.
providing value in exchange for money..
you seem to have this limiting belief that capitalism is bad.. which is why you dont have any money 🙂
its a limiting belief that is all..
money is a tool nothing more nothing less.
[b] its like saying that guns kill people..:)
[/b]
the real culpritis ignorance.
we live in the greatest time of our lives.. and I know I have said it before.. but we do
no where in time can the individual educate himself and become proficient in many things from the comfort of their home and make intelligent informed decisions.
without the internet I could not be living my dream..
[b][/b][quote=”sprite”][quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”Kwhite1″]Don’t you just hate it when people beat your Rainbow Land world with logic…[/quote]
As soon as one of your posts actually contains some logic I will let you know how that makes me feel. Astonished, probably.
[quote=”Kwhite1″]… and facts.[/quote]
As for facts, well, no one has disputed the numbers you posted but they have as much to do with this subject as what time sunrise occurs in Lisbon on April 22. (By the way, you do realize that 33% is still a minority portion of the whole of something right?)The more relevant fact is how many Subway customers will react positively to the change in their menu (thereby increasing their bottom line) and how many bigots will react negatively (possibly decreasing it). And that is completely up to the owners of UK Subways to decide, not you.
People who continually blather on about freedom often mean something like this:
[i][b]*I*[/b] should be free do do whatever the hell [b]*I*[/b] want.
[b]*I*[/b] should be free do say whatever the hell [b]*I*[/b] think.
[b]*You*[/b] should also be free do do whatever the hell [b]*I*[/b] want.
[b]*You*[/b] should also be free do say whatever the hell [b]*I*[/b] think. [/i][/quote]Democracy is dedicated to the common denominator. Woe to anyone who does not belong to that common denominator. Capitalism is dedicated to profit at the expense of everything else. Woe to anyone who stands in the way of profit.
And since democracy and capitalism are mutually exclusive, we end up with so called republics. Republics are dedicated to the elites who control them. Woe to anyone who is not an elite.[/quote]
[quote=”sweikert925″][quote=”sprite”]It looks like Intel may have been ordered to make a strategic political move of assets…[/quote]
I’m curious: When Intel made its initial move into Costa Rica, on whose orders was that done?[/quote]sweikert925
that is an easy question to answer.. thank you that.
$$$ is your answer. that is who gave the order
you see INTEL made the move to costa rica NOT because of its beaches and sloths
but it was a cost efficient place to do business.
and over the years.. when that pendulum swayed the other way.. another decision was made.
because its too expensive to do business here..
simple really and if you follow the money.. and disconnect with all the noise surrounding any company or government..
follow the money
on a smaller scale… the same applies to you sweikert and the reason you want to move here..
I wish we all could see things for what they are instead of what we would like them to be.
excellent site
the only issues I have is we need more pictures of semi nude women :D:D
[quote=”waggoner41″][quote=”Scott”]Thanks Connie
It has been my personal experience that doing the right thing is NEVER good for your bank account but I normally sleep well…
Besitos …
Scott
[/quote]
Setting up this web site was the right thing to do and I am sure that the work you have put into it has provided you with a decent income over the years. Selling it is really the icing on the cake.Selling it to someone who appreciates the value of what you have created and keeps it going is important to all of us, not just you.
The value of this site is not only yours it has also been a great value to many of the members.
WeLoveCostaRica.com played a great part in our decision to move to Costa Rica. Many of my concerns in moving to a nation with a much different culture were allayed through the responses from other members. My experiences here have also given me the pleasure of responding to the concerns of others considering moving here.
I, for one, would hate to see it change I in any way.[/quote]
sweikert925
Be careful.. your starting to sound like a capitalist.. free market kind of guy.:wink:
[quote=”sweikert925″]On my way up from the parking garage to the lobby of my office, there is a Starbucks on the right as I get on the escalator and a Dunkin Donuts on the left. If I have a need for caffeine I can choose to visit the Starbucks and pay $6 or the Dunkin Donuts and pay $1.99 for the same amount of coffee. Some people think the Starbucks coffee is worth the extra $4, others (like myself) think it’s nuts to pay 3 times as much for something you can easily get somewhere else. Some day it may happen that the Dunkin Donuts owner may decide to return to Pakistan, in which case there would just be the Starbucks. At that point I may reconsider whether $6 is too much, but I will STILL have a choice – buy the coffee or not buy the coffee.
Costaricabill had the right idea – either you think the price of a meal at an airport is worth it, and you buy it, or you don’t and you don’t.
So the equation is simple for me – either something is worth the money or it isn’t. For others, though, there seems to be another option that they prefer: to pay for the overpriced Starbucks coffee and then forever afterward gripe to anyone within earshot about how outrageous the prices are at Starbucks.
For someone who regularly visits Costa Rica, and even professes to love it but is utterly convinced that the government and people of Costa Rica are engaged in a massive effort to extort every last nickel of his hard earned money – well that seems illogical to me, but I guess it seems reasonable to others. To each his own, I guess.
By the way the same principles apply in the “marketplace of ideas” – competition is good, a monopoly of opinion is bad, and what each of us chooses to “buy” should be up to us individually.[/quote]
[quote=”Imxploring”]It’s one thing when a beautiful vacation destination has some tourist traps scattered around… you can avoid them. When a whole country becomes a tourist trap trying to milk visitors for every last dime you have a problem!
The car rental issue is a big turn-off for people. The Airport prices are indefensible… he’ll the prices are lower at JFK in NY. The overall pricing of “adventure/nature” activities including lodging in CR are turning people away.
A marketing champaign or catchy slogan do little to offset the perception people have when they do their research or visit. It’s often the bottom line of cost versus value that people leave with that keeps them coming back or recommending a travel destination to others. While getting fleeced occasionally may not lead to a negative opinion having it be the norm does result in a negative experience. The sore spot for many leaving CR after a visit is the Liberia Airport. The prices and limited options for food or beverages are INSULTING! And correct me if I’m wrong they INTENTIONALLY didn’t install water fountains in the terminal so that you’re held hostage for a $5 bottle of water!
This is NOT the last experience you want folks to have when leaving CR…. unless of course you don’t care if they return or bad month your country about their experiences in CR. They should be thanking people, wishing them well, and looking forward to seeing them again… THAT theme goes a long way compared to ALL the slogans and marketing I’ve seen the tourist board coming up with!
When folks can go to Disney in Florida and stay and eat for less you have to take a serious look at your business model. I don’t believe that CR is doing that. The place is still beautiful, but they’re killing (or at least squeezing) the golden goose a little to hard![/quote]some excellent points.. I just dont see this country realizing these issues until its too late
I also dont think its intentional as thier idea of marketing is just not providing information so people can make better decisions.. they just want your money
its similiar with all tourist locations.. its the 1 offs they are interested in
a personal example is Little italy in NYC.. this place would milk all the tourists without regard to the repeat customer.
and they got away with this for years and years and years..
until 9/11 happened..and let me tell you all of a sudden..
its.. all about the customer experience and repeat business lol
same thing similiar here when ICE was the only telephone company in town
It took me 15 months just to get a landline
and customer service was NON existent.. fast forward to today and they fall over over themselves with the
PARA SIRVILE!!!:D:D:D:D:D
[quote=”sweikert925″]….says the guy who recently insisted that….
[quote=”davidd”]….even though I may disagree does not mean I discourage or would say something to offend or argue with you. personally.. I find i am at my best when I keep an open mind and listen to all points of views which gives me perspective because in the end its all about our own individual decisions that we will follow anyway.[/quote]
[/quote]sweikert
ok… ok… you got me on that one..:D post deleted.
