I have no idea how you know from what I said to that. All I said is that available data does not allow you to conclude that the entirety of the difference in pay is due to difference in labor laws. It's not an extraordinary claim, it's quite tame in fact, I would self evident.

To counter your anecdote with mine, I’m always shocked whenever I return to visit the US how expensive basic things like groceries and rent are. Much more so than the Netherlands.

This is complicated, and it’s insufficient just to state that everything in Europe is generally more expensive than in the US.