On 2 Jul 99 at 21:01, Christian Fandt wrote:
> Upon the date 11:10 AM 7/1/99 -0700, Kai Kaltenbach said something like:
> >I grabbed the Consumer Price Index history off the web, pasted into Excel,
> >and applied the percentage changes cumulative from 1975.
> >
> >One 1998 dollar = $2.95 in 1975 dollars (ouch, those Carter administration
> >years! Thank goodness for Greenspan)
> >
> >Therefore, an assembled Altair 8800 with 4x2K static RAM, serial, parallel,
> >cassette, and bus expansion, $1880 in 1975 dollars, would be the equivalent
> >of $5546 today.
> >
> >An Apple Lisa base configuration ($9995 in 1983 dollars) would be $16,169
> >today.
> >
> >Kai
> >
> >At 11:02 AM 7/1/99 -0600, you wrote:
> >>
> >>In a recent auction on eBay, a MITS Floppy Disk Drive was auctioned off at
> >>$565. "WOW!" you may say, but that unit cost $1300 when new, and that was
> >>in dollars that were a DOLLAR, and not just the price of a candy bar.
> >
> >I suppose there must be a web site, somewhere, that would let you enter
> >a date and a US dollar amount, and would show you the equivalent value
> >in today's dollars, accounting for actual inflation, etc. in the
> >intervening years.
>
> Actually there is something that should give some sort of results you are
> looking for. Here's a useful site I found quite awhile ago that is on the
> Johnson Space Center server:
>
> http://krakatoa.jsc.nasa.gov/bu2/inflate.html and look at the "GDP
> Deflator Inflation Calculator" link.
>
> I suppose it's a valuable tool to forecast project expenses into the future
> as project development can last for many years in NASA.
>
> Regards, Chris
> -- --
Unfortunately, as you are likely aware of Chris, these price comparisons and
dollar values don't really capture the market realities of the time. Not like
when you were there. The going wage levels, at times inflated prices for some
commodities, and rent,food prices, expectations, and cultural demands also
played a role. Each era has it's "norm" demands and when I reflect back to the
40's and 50's our expectations and demands from that time make the present
ones those that only the wealthy of that era could afford. Hollywood
generally makes as bad a representation when they do their period pieces.
ciao larry
lwalker_at_interlog.com
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Received on Mon Jul 05 1999 - 10:19:01 BST