The cost of well, almost everything, has skyrocketed. From petrol prices, to rent and mortgages, to insurance premiums and to the supermarket shop with cereal, bread and eggs all costing more.

And now, a new report says Australians have suffered the biggest increase in the average tax rates in the developed world, with New Zealand a close second.

So why did we end up with the biggest tax increase? And what have been some of the worst price increases we’ve seen over the last few years?

Today, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright on these pressures, and what the government could do about it.