There are no valid comparisons...
...because each country is different in fundamental ways. Our cost of living in Australia is grossly higher than in most other countries, as is our income tax rate, hence the need for high wages.
When the AUD was .50 USD we looked like a third world bargain. Now we don't. Swings and roundabouts and other cliches describing ebb and flow.
You will not have missed last week's news that Australia is now the most expensive tourist destination in the world. High wages, high exchange rates will be with us for a very long time.
Foreign governments (Euro, Japan, USA) are engaged in a currency war. As long as they keep printing money under the guise of quantitive easing our AUD will continue to increase in relative value. We are already repeating the Dutch disease of the sixties. Soon most aspects of Australia (exports, tourism, etc) will be too expensive for the rest of the world.
But given the price of everything that I buy is much higher here than elsewhere I must insist on retaining a higher than average salary to pay for it.
Last edited by Twin Beech; 22nd Jan 2013 at 04:46.