From: Barbara Lamar (altamira@texas.net)
Date: Tue Dec 25 2001 - 00:35:49 MST
Randall Randall wrote:
> If you get twice as many
> Australian dollars, but the Australian dollars are only worth half as
> much as US Dollars (which must mean that you can only buy half
> as much with an Australian dollar as with a US Dollar, all else being
> equal), then you're making the same as you would in the US, right?
>
> If people in general are poorer there, then you might be able to live
> better than you would in the US, but otherwise, it would seem to be
> exactly the same. What am I missing?
The crucial bit of info you're missing is this: You can buy a liter of milk
in Melbourne for something like A$1.25 (the Aussies on the list can correct
me if I've got the numbers wrong--but I know they're in the ball park). You
can rent an apartment for under A$1000 per month. You can buy a new car for
under A$20,000. And so forth.
So a person could afford to live a lifestyle in Melbourne for, say,
US$60,000 that would cost more like $US115,000 in the US. And people are not
poorer there. Overall, I'd say the standard of living is higher in Australia
than in the US, especially for people at the lower end of the scale.
Barbara
PanTerra Small Business Strategies
http://www.panterraweb.com/
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