US houseprices look far more reasonable then Australia ones.

At the moment we have 5% unemployment... but most of the reason the economy is ticking over here is because of our trade with China. China makes the worlds goods, Australia supplies China with raw materials in LPG, Iron and other minerals. If the World stops buying, China stops producing, then Australia will be in for all sorts of heartache.

Part of the problem though is that our measuring systems aren't keeping up with changes in logistics... the internet has made for some interesting Peer to Peer goods which aren't readily captured in the current rounds of figures. Add to that some efficiencies which are being seen as less consumption... think of it this way, if industry is 5% more efficient that means they are buying 5% less materials... however it doesn't neccesarily mean less consumption at the consumer end.

Also due to belt tightening people are now more used to supermarket inhouse brands. Sure they are drinking and eating the same food, just without the fancy mancy packaging hiking up the prices... it will take a while before people go back to the shiny cardboard and push up perceived retail consumption again.