> The Berkshire Hathaway CEO still resides in the five-bedroom home in central Omaha, Nebraska, he purchased for $31,500 in 1958, which is about $329,505 in today’s dollars.
But the house clearly isn't worth only $329,505 in "today's dollars." Sure, it's more modest than a full-blown mansion, but it's still worth a lot more than that, closer to about a million dollars. And that's including if you were to try buying the house with zero knowledge or context that Warren Buffett once lived in it.
Of course, these things are all 'worth' what someone will actually pay for them, but unless we believe that that housing market is so screwed that Buffett's house would sell for ~$330k if the housing market crashed down to reality (which would actually imply potential deflation and a CPI that would result in the home being worth much lower, per "real" dollar figures), that house is never selling for less than $330k. Not even less than $660k, in my opinion. The only way these homes would come close to their price in CPI is if something catastrophic happened to the neighborhoods in which they exist.
But yeah, I think the fact that Americans, at all income levels, have more stuff than they did 40 years ago, is part of understanding the macro picture. More stuff does not always mean more quality of life.
The only new feature I wish my car had is a nice display that is hooked up to a backup camera, or even better, the ability for the car to automatically park itself, especially parallel parking in tight spots.
Not a million, but closer to that than to #329k.