Re:Biases Against the Creation of Wealth
by Xichekolas on Friday September 28, 2007 @10:35AM
(#60605)
How can you say prices have stayed the same or gone up? In 1996 I paid $2300 for a 486 with 16mb of RAM. A month ago I paid only $1700 for a Core 2 Quad with 4gb of RAM. Seven years ago a 50 inch plasma cost $10k.
Even outside electronics, which experiences persistent price deflation (and hence rising volume), prices are not rising as fast as wages. In constant 1990 dollars, gasoline cost $1.10/gal in SF in 1987. This rose to $1.66 (1990 dollars) in 2007. (http://www.mtc.ca.gov/maps_and_data/datamart/stats/gasprice....) Median wages in the same period rose from $14,498.74 to $23.962.20. (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html) $1.66/$1.10 = ~1.51 ... $23,962.20/$14.498.74 = ~1.65. Even gas is getting cheaper.
As random anecdotal evidence on food. My dad told me he started his career 33 years ago at $4.10/hr, and finished it in 2006 at closer to $40/hr, at the same company, without climbing into upper management. When he started, a week's worth of groceries cost him about $25-30. Now, they cost around $75-100. A threefold increase in the cost of food, but a tenfold increase in his income.
Sure, the sticker price may go up, but over the long run in a growing economy, wages increase just as fast, if not faster.
Even outside electronics, which experiences persistent price deflation (and hence rising volume), prices are not rising as fast as wages. In constant 1990 dollars, gasoline cost $1.10/gal in SF in 1987. This rose to $1.66 (1990 dollars) in 2007. (http://www.mtc.ca.gov/maps_and_data/datamart/stats/gasprice....) Median wages in the same period rose from $14,498.74 to $23.962.20. (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html) $1.66/$1.10 = ~1.51 ... $23,962.20/$14.498.74 = ~1.65. Even gas is getting cheaper.
As random anecdotal evidence on food. My dad told me he started his career 33 years ago at $4.10/hr, and finished it in 2006 at closer to $40/hr, at the same company, without climbing into upper management. When he started, a week's worth of groceries cost him about $25-30. Now, they cost around $75-100. A threefold increase in the cost of food, but a tenfold increase in his income.
Sure, the sticker price may go up, but over the long run in a growing economy, wages increase just as fast, if not faster.