Is There a Cost of Living Difference Between Countries?

There's a bit of a tragedy of the commons, right? Like, if if one starts becoming frugal, i mean, basically to if you bought stock and apple, apple went up. Why did apple go up? Because people kept buying eye phones. And it just kind of boggles my mind, like, why there's such an enormous difference? I don't really understand where the ten x comes from; does it include things like taxes and tariffs?