Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Derr, Ross Gittins
Who would have thought it? Prices for things that everyone needs – like food and beer* – are going up, way faster than wages (and way, way faster than the dole); while the prices of stuff that you-can-always-hold-on-the-old-one-for-a-bit-longer, like stereos, televisions, video equipment, cameras and home computers, are down a massive 21.3%, thus almost single-handled neutralising what would otherwise be a scarily-high inflation rate.
And who also would have thunk that both PM John Howard and Opposition Leader Mark Latham are both aggressively trying to appeal to the only people who are getting ahead in all this – the sliver of society who can afford to junk the old, and “upgrade” from perfectly good TVs, cars etc?
“Let them eat plasma screens”, eh, John and Mark?
* Tobacco, heroin and private school fees are excluded from my concerns here – sorry, folks, but none of these can be enjoyed in moderation, as far as I’m aware.
Who would have thought it? Prices for things that everyone needs – like food and beer* – are going up, way faster than wages (and way, way faster than the dole); while the prices of stuff that you-can-always-hold-on-the-old-one-for-a-bit-longer, like stereos, televisions, video equipment, cameras and home computers, are down a massive 21.3%, thus almost single-handled neutralising what would otherwise be a scarily-high inflation rate.
And who also would have thunk that both PM John Howard and Opposition Leader Mark Latham are both aggressively trying to appeal to the only people who are getting ahead in all this – the sliver of society who can afford to junk the old, and “upgrade” from perfectly good TVs, cars etc?
“Let them eat plasma screens”, eh, John and Mark?
* Tobacco, heroin and private school fees are excluded from my concerns here – sorry, folks, but none of these can be enjoyed in moderation, as far as I’m aware.
