Is the cost of living really going up? | Video Lab | ABC News 

So basically those of us below the poverty line are totally screwed. We were already struggling before Covid and Russia/Ukraine war and now it is just impossible. But as long as the upper income earners and big corporations still live well and make huge profit, then that is all that matters.

It’s bad when you’re nearly 50 and are stuck living with your parents because rent is ridiculously high. Rent would take approx 90% of my wage each week. It’s left me with no hope at all. They want to downsize but I’d be homeless. Sometimes I think it would be better if I wasn’t around.

This video frames everything on oil, when we could have been well on the way to non-oil dependence under Bill Shorten. He wanted EV manufacturing here, where we have some of the best EV needed mineral deposits in the world.

$8.50 for a lettuce... building materials ... if you can get them 3* the amount. Car parts if you can get them imported stupid high! Nothings made here in Australia, materials imported, jobs, food imported, imported, imported where is Australian made ?

Inflation - an artificial increase in the fiat money supply within an economy. You left this important part out.

This video misses the point, yes, oil has caused a sudden spike. However, the reality is that low interest rates and QE are largely to to blame for the general rate of cost of living being far too high. People need to realise that the Australian dollar is essentially backed by the housing market. When the government/RBA created hundreds of billions of dollars during covid it went straight into the banks coffers to be offered as ‘cheap’ money. And contributes greatly to the rise in housing. And that money is backed by the housing market, essentially. The house of cards is largely built on that and our economy is a basket case based on coal, iron, cafes and houses. No investment public or private in an real advanced economy. The housing ‘market’ is also, not a true free market. It is propped up by successive governments too afraid to see the correction that is truly needed cause it would really hurt. Also, ask yourself, what is tax in a fiat economy? It’s not used to fund public spending. It’s an economic lever to ‘control’ inflation and pull economic levers. If it was truly about funding public expenditure, governments would collect taxes from corporations and the rich. What they’re actually doing is maintaining the value of the dollar by creating scarcity among the majority, ie PAYG wage earners.

i mean even the food is a bit more expensive at my place compared to a month ago

The problem politicians and corporatists dont want to fix. Eventually, they will say we should just fast for one week each month.

Pretty sure according to the statistics just quoted, inflation is more like 18%

Didn't hear much about how Company gross operating profits were up 13% last year, but workers were only paid 2.1% more. The capitalists make the capital, and the workers do all the work.

Fuel prices didn't go up because of a """shortage""" There is no shortage. The petroleum companies just look for opportunities to gouge their prices. They've posted record profits this quarter because of the Ukraine crisis. If there was an actual shortage these price hikes wouldn't make up for it. Instead you have the same amount of demand at the pump and inflated prices and NO shortage, which just equalls larger profits.

Simple explanation - more money chasing fewer goods. Print money and pay people to stay home and not produce, keep rates artificially low to inflate asset prices so people feel wealthy

I am already enrolled as a student at a uni in Queensland. Can someone here tell me what is an average of living cost that I have to prepare for a month. Is it enough if I only allocate at 1.850 AUD for a month? Thanks for the answer guys.

This was insightful! Thanks for sharing!

Looking at it the wrong way. Inflation is the symptom of the devaluation of the dollar. Every dollar in existence is debt and the less scarce it is the less value it holds. The asset bubble in 2008 was avoided because we reduced interest rates to nearly zero and didn't allow the market to find some equilibrium. Essentially piling more debt on to a debt crisis and now it's taken a minor shock to expose it. Only this time out rates have nowhere to go

And don't forget we changed what's included in CPI. We took out housing prices to make the figure more palatable.

Price setting by corporations such as Coles and Wesfarmers is not based completely on inflation. I have no idea why the economist doesn’t know this, they should have found someone else to interview. In finance and management accounting you’re taught the most important is for a company is shareholder return and you must do everything you possibly can to ensure it grows each year, by having profit and revenue rise each year. During Covid people purchased massive amounts of goods whether that be from the supermarket or through online means. Coles and Woolworths made large profits, now that Covid is over they still need to make a profit however this time larger than the profit they made during Covid. Now that people are buying less they raise prices so that profits remain higher than they were the previous financial year. Prices are also set by what one believes a consumer will pay for the good or service. They will then cite external factors such as inflation, energy increases and so on to validate to the customer the change in price. During Covid oil was worth less than zero, yet the consumer still paid over one dollar a litre for fuel, why? Because consumers will pay it. Interest rates are based on a variety of factors such as risk, inflation, desired profit margin and administrative costs. Again there’s the threat of inflation so rates rise, banks are expected to have perpetual growth rates rise again, the pay of employees increases, rates rise again. People selling their homes look at the selling price of the houses around them and expect to receive the same amount of money for their homes or more. Borrowers have access to greater funds, some having parents who can pay their deposit leading to them having greater borrowing power causing prices to rise. Higher prices lead to buyers seeking out cheaper areas where they can stretch their money further then prices rise in the cheaper area causing a domino effect. Government employees (especially those we voted for) want ever increasing wages and perks. To achieve this they then need to raise taxes and put the country further into debt. This causes Australia to be of greater risk on the interbank and overnight money markets causing again a domino effect on the cost of borrowing.

The price of bread in the 80's is not true. I used to have to walk for ever to the corner store to buy bread for lunch in the 80's and it was about $1.40. Clearly there is a mix up between the 80'sand the 60's here.

Nurses aren't happy Old people aren't happy Young people aren't happy People can't move even if they own because nothing to buy The sooner the property correction happen the better

"Is the cost of living really going up?" If you have to ask that question then you are getting too much money. Blind Freddy can see that it is going up so what is the point of the question?

Cost of living has risen in line with inflation, but wages haven't.

My salary in 1995 was $50k pa. My salary now is $80k pa. Anyone else experience something similar? There is a real problem with very low wage growth.

Even the price of news is going up!

Why would anyone shop at Coles? Premium prices for substandard produce.

How much was that computer?

So to make those goods became more expensive and you pay more to get less.

we kept talking abt how china "steal" jobs from the west but few remembered the inflationary period of last century, in the 80s there was major labour shortages across manufacturing industry, company raise and raise wages but there is just not enough worker in the assembly line(understandably since they are miserable jobs), as result price went higher and higher.

If you voted for the LNP last election. you've participated in electing the worst economic managers at a time Australia could least afford a crap government.

Inflation, shrinkflation and stagnation.

No, no, no, it is the devaluation of money.

Globalisation was the reason for low inflation over the past two decades

Every thing has gone up by minimum 20% and some at 100%, so in average our cost of living has gone up by around 40%. When will our pay increase and when will our government do something about it. Not surprising, our government will step in when Australia is in crisis just like covid pandemic. It's time we import from other countries and not let China affect us so much. How are average income earning living these days?.

I bought a loaf of bread for $2.70 yesterday... :)

Can you please do an update on this, why are we using interest rates to slow the economy? Isn’t there a smarter way to do the same thing?

Very good direct journalism here. We should honestly have a lot more of this instead of the job jab you have most the time.

Sure could go for some mean tweets and a healthy economy right now

I'm not sure about $13 dollars for mince, a 500 gram packet of mince in Adelaide Coles is $8, so where are they shopping??

it going up every years... the question is ......how high? 2%.....3%......4% if no inflation means that the economy in recession

Go to the supermarket !!!

And albo doesn’t even know the unemployment rate 😆

Buy things on special.. TAKE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED, as you need it.

Inflation been going up for years and years and yet he blames Putin for it !!! LOL

It's pretty irresponsible to say we're dealing with it well when it comes to housing going up 25% in one year fuel going up 35% and food going up at least 10% the only reason our inflation numbers are low is because they are taking other items that'll obviously have no inflation increase and adding that onto the number so it's just a lower number realistically were seeing like 18% inflation in a year if you want to just take Essentials on what people buy that's not right.

Tech aside from televisions(arguably) is essentials....no tech no job ..

Why are comments turned off when you post about the sufferings and financial struggles of seniors and oldies! I reckon oldies doesn't mean anything and no one dun wanna hear from oldies! Oldies are supposed to be voiceless! 😢😭

Yes it’s really going up you …….

Currently its 2.49% mortgage I've factored in for 50% interest rates do your worst economy hit me please!

Fuel prices HAVE NOT yet been included into most commodity prices. Line haul freight costs ARE NOT dynamic like fuel and take time to filter into the economy. The main causes of inflation is the spending by every government and undermining the value of our currency by money printing both here and in the USA. Exacerbating the issue was the decrease in freight capacity in both air and sea cargo. The fuel situation as well as the idiotic promises to spend more money from both parties is bound to make things worse.

But inflation is at 3-4% stay the government 😂

So sick of these stupid headlines , ABC deleted

Mabie get half of the people complaining to stop smoking etc lol

I don't get it. I went through my bank statements and I spend the same amount at Coles as I did 5 years ago ($65/week). I earn the same amount of money as well.

Give me a house 2-3 my meagre wage like the Boomers had it and I'll pay $15 for a loaf of bread... Stop ignoring the house crisis and deflecting toward the cost of celery sticks increasing.

Your oil producing country ranking list is wrong. The top oil producing country is the United States. You have the United Arab Emirates on top. You got that mixed up. For a credible news orginzation you couldn’t get that right?

Some one is going to get the sack for leaving the comments on

It’s all bs

Welcome to the real World! ... Wallabiis!!

Your video is *** and waste of time. Why electricity, gas , water rates are also increasing? Is it because of petrol? Basically you can't tell us the truth behind this but we know it.

I went to the doctor and they said because of my behaviour I have severe inflation around my paenus

Not for the staff of the grossly overpaid ABC.

I wonder how much the politicians food bill is fortnight. Hmmmm. 🌈🌈🌈💯💯🥃🥃🥝🍉🍞🍞🥪🧆🍗🍗🥩🥑🍟🍟🍟. Hmmmm I wonder how much.

Yes and its only going to get worse if Albo gets in with the spending spree he is announcing which will me he raises taxes