[quote]Oldnbroken wrote:
I am not an economist, but I am an Aussie, so here’s my 2c.
The cost of living is definitely higher in AS than in the US. The cost of housing is extremely high (we have 5 of the top 10 least affordable cities in the world to buy a house in). But what we do have is a massive welfare system. We simply dont have the poverty and homelessness in AS that I have seen in the US (I lived in Virginia for a couple years). While it does exist its generally isolated (Aboriginal Communites have much higher rates of poverty, and much lower life expectancy than the rest of AS). The AS government provides a wage to the unemployed (called the Dole) and provides Government housing to the poor. We have a health system called Medicare which provides subsidised or free (depending on what you earn) health care to all Australians. We have free education through to High School and a University system that allows you to pay your tuition after you start earning a decent wage (called the Higher Education Scheme). We also have an excellent trade training schemes and apprenticeships. So our Government does make it easy to for all Australians to grow, get educated and get a decent job, buy a house and have children. We also have mandatory superannuation, which means that all Australians must contribute to their retirement.
All of this is paid for by our Taxation system, which is bloody complex let me assure you. As much as I hate paying as much tax as I do, I would still prefer to live in AS than any other county in the world. We have a good economy (despite the Labor governments ham fisted efforts), low levels of violent crime, no real threat (in terms of defense of AS), great weather, a fantastic multicultural society, good healthcare and education. I have lived in the US, the UK, the UAE, Canada and visited many other countries in he world, but as the song says, I still call Australia home.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do with adjustment for currency standards. You suck at economics.[/quote]
It has to do with purchasing power and disposable income. If the taxes are higher but you do not have to pay for private medical where does this work out? Do you have less disposable income or more? Cost of living also needs to be taken into account. Do the higher wages more than cover the cost of the standard of living costs when compared to a place like the U. S.?
[quote]Zeppelin795 wrote:
Here is the exchange rate. Curious when living standards are applied how much the difference in pay comes out to? Of course education and medical needs to be taken into account. Also their unemployment is much lower. Then why do economists in the U.S. say if you raise minimum wage you loose jobs?
Yes you lose jobs like manufacturing, processing etc… unless you offer some other benefit to stay over the competitor markets with cheaper labor and running costs. And that is exactly what is happening in Australia, they are losing those jobs because it is just too expensive to do that stuff there compared to the cheaper markets in South East Asia. A big reason Australia still has a fantastic economy is due to its relatively small size and the fact it is in the middle of a mining boom.
That has nothing to do with adjustment for currency standards. You suck at economics.[/quote]
It has to do with purchasing power and disposable income. If the taxes are higher but you do not have to pay for private medical where does this work out? Do you have less disposable income or more? Cost of living also needs to be taken into account. Do the higher wages more than cover the cost of the standard of living costs when compared to a place like the U. S.?
[/quote]
Nope still doesn’t follow. The Big Mac Index is a quick PPP (found to be pretty accurate actually), this stuff is either accounted for or is irrelevant in the article. You can keep bringing up more and more things to factor in, but like I showed with the Big Mac Index, it’s either already factored in or completely irrelevant to the adjustment.
[quote]Zeppelin795 wrote:
Here is the exchange rate. Curious when living standards are applied how much the difference in pay comes out to? Of course education and medical needs to be taken into account. Also their unemployment is much lower. Then why do economists in the U.S. say if you raise minimum wage you loose jobs?
[quote]Zeppelin795 wrote:
Here is the exchange rate. Curious when living standards are applied how much the difference in pay comes out to? Of course education and medical needs to be taken into account. Also their unemployment is much lower. Then why do economists in the U.S. say if you raise minimum wage you loose jobs?
[quote]Zeppelin795 wrote:
Here is the exchange rate. Curious when living standards are applied how much the difference in pay comes out to? Of course education and medical needs to be taken into account. Also their unemployment is much lower. Then why do economists in the U.S. say if you raise minimum wage you loose jobs?
[quote]Zeppelin795 wrote:
Here is the exchange rate. Curious when living standards are applied how much the difference in pay comes out to? Of course education and medical needs to be taken into account. Also their unemployment is much lower. Then why do economists in the U.S. say if you raise minimum wage you loose jobs?
That has nothing to do with adjustment for currency standards. You suck at economics.[/quote]
It has to do with purchasing power and disposable income. If the taxes are higher but you do not have to pay for private medical where does this work out? Do you have less disposable income or more? Cost of living also needs to be taken into account. Do the higher wages more than cover the cost of the standard of living costs when compared to a place like the U. S.?
[/quote]
What part of the last few posts did you not understand? It has already been mentioned that the US has higher purchasing power AND a lower cost of living than Australia. In fact one our respected cousins from down under just said as much, even though he also says he would rsther live there (which is perfectly fine, there’s some amazing stuff down there and if you love a place you love it)
That has nothing to do with adjustment for currency standards. You suck at economics.[/quote]
It has to do with purchasing power and disposable income. If the taxes are higher but you do not have to pay for private medical where does this work out? Do you have less disposable income or more? Cost of living also needs to be taken into account. Do the higher wages more than cover the cost of the standard of living costs when compared to a place like the U. S.?
[/quote]
What part of the last few posts did you not understand? It has already been mentioned that the US has higher purchasing power AND a lower cost of living than Australia. In fact one our respected cousins from down under just said as much, even though he also says he would rsther live there (which is perfectly fine, there’s some amazing stuff down there and if you love a place you love it)[/quote]
What about reality is it that you don’t understand? If you figure in higher cost of living how much of that increased pay is eaten up? Does it work out to more disposable income or less when the real purchasing power is calculated?
