Zen10

Of course. If you earn $65,000 and the average house costs $2 million, which is what I'm talking about, and you have $2 million, then you're fine.

Until the 99.9% finally snap and drag you out your house.

Grayling

Every cloud has a silver lining

Bibbs

Really? Wow.

I've just bought a place (first in Australia, and WA's average salary is $80k .. and there are a lot of places available starting around $400k .. that's only x5.

The x5 is about the same as we were looking at in the UK.

Just to add the 'average' is aparently 490k.
http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/corpor...an+House+Price

Which sounds about right.

Zen10

The silver lining of course being that houses are going to collapse in value like a lead weight dropped off a bridge. Asset prices falling everywhere. Gold & Silver down (Sorry Renth...) house prices down, narrow M1 down all over the place, UK, China, Spain. All governments terrified by deflation, printing money like toilet paper and economy still flatlining.

Despite all this I'm still not ready to call the D word.

renth

Call it, deflation will be great for me.

Zen10

Since 1980 average wage up 400% average house price up 1900%. That house you got for 5 times salary used to be 2 times your salary.

Zen10

Me too Don't want to curse it by saying it out loud.

Bibbs

But then everything else was a lot more expensive (as a ratio).

TVs, cars, computers etc. are all now a fraction of what people would have paid in 1980.

So the houses themselves have gone up, but actually filling them has gone down.

Zen10

The items you mention are cheaper now because they are made by slaves in China, but the house you buy is made by Australians, so it's unaffordable. If Australians made your pasta tongs they would cost $25 not $1.

Bibbs

But it matters not where they are made, it matters on the cost to me.

http://news.domain.com.au/domain/rea...201-1o7wg.html

Zen10

It will matter when they can't be produced in China due to its domestic inflation. Manufacturing is already fleeing to other SE Asian states. Eventually we're going to run out of slaves.

Amazulu

I bought a dustpan and brush from Bunnings a few weeks ago. It cost $2.99 and is made in Australia. On the rack next to them in the store, there were Chinese made ones - also $2.99.

Just saying like.

Amazulu

3D printer technology will sort this out.

ozzieeagle

Who can blame the Chinese for replicating what Great Britain did with it's work force at the beginning of the industrial revolution. They are just following a tried and trusted method for creating a Wealthy Nation.

Bibbs

By the time the 'slaves' run out, I'll be long gone.

We've a lot of China, India and then Africa to exploit first.

By then, Europe will be a 3rd world wasteland and we'll have the Spanish stitching our nice new trainers.