Why is everything the same price in Dollars in the U.S as in Pounds in the U.K?

Question

If the pound is much stronger than the Dollar, how come it is so cheap to live in the U.S. A decent salary there is $65,000 a year, where in the U.K a good salary is about half that, and U.K prices are the same as the Dollar price..i.e a house there is $350,000, here it's £350,000..which makes living in the U.S half price....so a fantastic standard of living. So why is it so hard in the U.K, I mean, our Pound is so strong!!!!

Answer 1

its true, but living in the usa sux you get what you pay for

Answer 2

My car cost £16,850 two years ago, but a similar model in the states cost the same amount in US$, thus half price, meaning that I could have bought a similar model in the states for around £8,425. Now try to import that car to the UK, and the price goes up based on import taxes and VAT etc

We have our higher taxes to thank for that. If it wasn't for such high taxation, things would cost a whole lot less.

It doesn't always work that way.

I want some software for my iMac which costs $79 (about £39:50) but I can buy the same software here for £39 plus VAT, so it's the VAT that's the real killer.  

It's probably because the pound is so strong against other currencies that we are the one's to pay the price.