but I have heard that the legal brothels on Nevada have sky high prices (for low performance yet) so there's another case of legal not being cheaper.
On top of that, the only way that pols will vote to legalize sex for pay is if they get to put big taxes on it, so that will further increase prices.I visit from time to time but I don't have any idea about the political climate in the state. It would be great if they can find the courage to pass this bill, and for the governor to enact it into law, but I'm not holding my breath.
This is a nice step forward but my guess is the bill will never even come up for a vote. One step at a time.
I think some escorts would be surprised by the downward price pressure of legalizing sex work. Although it's illegality imposes a risk, it is that risk that limits entry of competition and allows prices to rise.
I think some escorts would be surprised by the downward price pressure of legalizing sex work. Although it's illegality imposes a risk, it is that risk that limits entry of competition and allows prices to rise.
.
People have raised several other points on TER and elsewhere and, to me, things seem to cancel out to keep costs relatively constant. There's only one thing to do: legalize and find out!
But the law of averages has saved you once again, and most likely for all the wrong reasons, you actually have reached the right conclusion.
I have been to several dozen different countries, most of them have legalized prostitution in some manner or form, some do not. I have noticed ZERO difference in the "price of pussy" that seems to have come from the legality or illegality of prostitution in any of these countries. Just like in this country, prices are driven mainly by the local cost of living. NYC and LA don't have laws any harsher or any easier than someplace like Dallas, but the cost of living for almost EVERYTHING is higher in NYC or LA than Dallas, and surprise surprise, the cost of pussy in a city like Dallas is also much lower than the prices in LA or NYC.
The same thing applies to other countries. Lets start close to home. The price for an hour session in the DR is around $25-35 hr, the same goes for Nicaragua and Colombia, but when you go to Panama or Costa Rica the price quadruples, not because of any laws or regulations, every one of these countries has prostitution right out there in the open and it's perfectly legal in every one of these countries, it's the cost of living that's different.
Let's look at Europe next, prostitution is legal in most of Western Europe, but prices are on par of what they are here at home. Go further east and you'll find rates are quite a bit lower, but there's a pretty good mix as to which countries have legalized prostitution and which ones don't, mainly prostitution is illegal in most Eastern European countries, but it's still practiced by and large right in the open. The only major difference is the cost of living in these various countries, NOT whether or not it's legal or illegal.
Take ANY region in the world and you will find the same thing. There is no need to "speculate" what prices would do if criminal penalties were to disappear tomorrow in this country. It's already been proven over and over that legality has little to do with prices where it comes to the "price of pussy"
but I have heard that the legal brothels on Nevada have sky high prices (for low performance yet) so there's another case of legal not being cheaper.
On top of that, the only way that pols will vote to legalize sex for pay is if they get to put big taxes on it, so that will further increase prices.
The state was putting such a high (pun intended) tax on pot that buyers were eschewing the legal shops and going back to their dealers like the old days in such numbers that the State of California, Yes THEM, actually reduced the tax on pot so that they could compete.
You are comparing the relative costs between markets that have reached their equilibrium. Relative costs align with the cost of living.
.
The RELATIVE costs of different US markets pre and post perturbation will probably follow the same pattern you describe: higher costs where the cost of living is higher. HOWEVER, that does not help to predict how prices will respond to the major perturbation of legalization. Dallas should still be cheaper than NYC, but will NYC go up or down and by how much? There are so many good arguments on both sides (up / down) that it seems to me to be a wash.
But the law of averages has saved you once again, and most likely for all the wrong reasons, you actually have reached the right conclusion.
I have been to several dozen different countries, most of them have legalized prostitution in some manner or form, some do not. I have noticed ZERO difference in the "price of pussy" that seems to have come from the legality or illegality of prostitution in any of these countries. Just like in this country, prices are driven mainly by the local cost of living. NYC and LA don't have laws any harsher or any easier than someplace like Dallas, but the cost of living for almost EVERYTHING is higher in NYC or LA than Dallas, and surprise surprise, the cost of pussy in a city like Dallas is also much lower than the prices in LA or NYC.
The same thing applies to other countries. Lets start close to home. The price for an hour session in the DR is around $25-35 hr, the same goes for Nicaragua and Colombia, but when you go to Panama or Costa Rica the price quadruples, not because of any laws or regulations, every one of these countries has prostitution right out there in the open and it's perfectly legal in every one of these countries, it's the cost of living that's different.
Let's look at Europe next, prostitution is legal in most of Western Europe, but prices are on par of what they are here at home. Go further east and you'll find rates are quite a bit lower, but there's a pretty good mix as to which countries have legalized prostitution and which ones don't, mainly prostitution is illegal in most Eastern European countries, but it's still practiced by and large right in the open. The only major difference is the cost of living in these various countries, NOT whether or not it's legal or illegal.
Take ANY region in the world and you will find the same thing. There is no need to "speculate" what prices would do if criminal penalties were to disappear tomorrow in this country. It's already been proven over and over that legality has little to do with prices where it comes to the "price of pussy"
We just came to our conclusions by VERY different routes. You entered in ALL the possible data you could think of, thought about good reasons prices should/would go up and thought about equally good reasons that prices should/would go down. Knowing you, you probably made a spread sheet, spent several nights thinking about this and manipulating all data and came up with, basically NOTHING. As you said, all the factors pretty much cancel themselves out.
I came to my conclusion via a very different route, I just thought back to all the countries I have been too, compared the rates in the countries where prostitution was legal versus those were it was illegal and also came up with NOTHING. The price for pussy is dictated by the cost of living in the region, NOT by the legality or illegality of prostitution in the area.
BTW, I made several posts on this subject several years ago. I have found that pussy "rents" on average for around 20 times the prevailing wage in the area for the "average" worker. Or an easier way to figure it about 1/2 the average weekly wage. Take places like the DR, Colombia, Thailand et al. The typical worker makes around $100 a week or less, the average hooker makes $50 hr or less. Prostitution is legal in all these places. In places like Costa Rica or Panama wages are higher, the typical worker makes more like $200-250 a week and hookers get between $100-150 hr In Western Europe prices and wages are very similar to what they are here, prostitution is mainly legal and the correlations between wages and rates are very much the same. Now lets look at Eastern Europe where prostitution is mainly illegal, but wages are much lower than in Western Europe, Prices in these countries are much less, more on par with Costa Rica or Panama which have a similar cost of living than their richer neighbors to the west.
My math is very rough of course, but if you do any kind of comparison of hooker prices throughout the world you will find my numbers to be at least very close in almost all cases. These of course are rough averages and therefore I am sure you can find all sorts of exceptions to the rule, but by and large the more research you do, the more you will agree I'm right.
Comparing countries is a bit risky, since there are different cultures and different economics. Latin America is probably poorer which would induce girls to enter the profession for economic reasons, yet on the other hand Latin America has a greater religious population, which keeps girls from entering the profession. Western Europe has higher living standards so there is less desperation to join the profession, limiting competition.
Culturally, the USA is in flux. The Sugar Babe phenomena has exploded in recent years. Of course many of them probably harbor the fantasy of finding some rich guy that will shovel cash, gifts, and exotic vacations in their direction, but the more realistic ones are in it for the quick cash. If sex work were to become legal, a good number of the SB's would transition over.
I suspect on the whole there would be a downward price pressure from legalization. But I wouldn't guarantee it.
Fewer variables than you think. The primary reason women in any country become prostitutes is poverty. It is often called ' survival sex. '
Women have been fucking for "things of value" long before money ever existed.
I disagree that poverty is the primary reason women become prostitutes. It is a factor yes, but a woman doesn't have to be poverty stricken in order to want a higher standard of living. Is fucking a total stranger for rent money or groceries really so different than fucking the boss for better hours and a pay raise?
The humanitarian philanthropist in me can only help so many people in poverty, so its either the smelly homeless guys on the sidewalk, or hot young women. Go ahead, someone say I'm prejudiced. I don't mind owning it in this case.