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3.1.3.1 (Exercise) Have prices actually risen? Economists generally agree that the
meaning of “prices have risen” is that you would prefer past prices to current
prices. What makes this challenging is that the set of available products change
over time. Cars have gone up significantly in price, but are also more reliable.
Would you be better off with your current income in 1913 than today? You
would be very rich with current average income in 1913, but not have access to
modern medicine, television, electronics, refrigeration, highways, and many
other technologies. If you made $40,000 annually in 1913, how would you live
and what would you buy? (Do some research.)
A 100 page comic book cost me $0.25 US in 1970 or so, it is a few US$ now. A 12 oz soft drink cold in a deli was about $0.10, it is more usually $1.00 now. A gallon of gasoline $0.29, now about $4.50. Not a single one of these is of notably better quality now than it was then, I'd say they are directly comparable and are quite different enough in nominal price so that there can be no doubt.
Sorry not to go all the way back to 1913, but I was 13 years old in 1970 so it was easier to use what I could remember.
Rationality quotes time!
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