Standard Of Living

News blew in late yesterday that Sydney is the 7th most expensive city in the world. Big deal. We already knew you have to be a criminal or a real estate speculator to afford to live here. Not that there’s much diff.

The real news was that Melbourne made number 8 on the list, ahead of Singapore, which is widely known as an extremely expensive city even for those who don’t habitually spit on the sidewalk.

Melbourne has always prided itself on its title of “World’s Most Liveable City”. Apparently liveability doesn’t have much to do with affordability. And now Melbourne has another claim to fame. It’s a trait which is never, ever brought up in the endless, tedious Sydney vs Melbourne fights. Here goes then…

Continue reading "A radical new twist on Melbourne vs Sydney" »

Consumer spending is good, right? We are told in the media all the time to spend more, and we worry when “consumer confidence” is down. Why is that?

In short, the answer is because we have a GDP to look after. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is one of our key financial indicators, and in developed western societies consumer spending makes up approximately 65 per cent of GDP.

If consumer spending is a large determinant of GDP, then the more we spend the higher our GDP and the better the economy. So if we are being told to spend just so we have an increasingly higher GDP, then someone, somewhere must have worked out that this must be good for its citizens right?

Continue reading "Consumption need not be a deadly disease" »