In the year to September 2025, Australians’ “real” wages are claimed to have grown by +0.2%. This is said to mark the eighth consecutive quarter of positive annual real wage growth—”the longest streak in nearly a decade“.

So, “real” wages are assessed by adjusting nominal wages by the CPI?

But isn’t CPI a joke? (Yes it is!)

So, what’s the real rate of inflation?

It’s more like the average 12.1% pa rate of land price inflation that we’ve experienced since 1971 which has devalued the Australian dollar in much the same way as the US dollar shown below. However, economists would have us believe the silly little CPI adjustment, because it makes us feel a little more comfortable than the more appropriate12.1% pa figure.

All of which signifies that real wages have continued to fall as land prices escalated upwards.

There’s an inverse relationship, you see?