Household goods affordability

According to the Carpe Diem site one had to work 885 hours in 1959 to earn the same goods as one can earn working 170 hours in 2013.

More here:

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One would work about 28 hours to buy a gas stove in 2013 compared to almost 91 hours in 1959. He has ten other examples of decreasing work hours needed to buy given items.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman
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Thanks for posting that. I've often used the "how many hours" in discussions. Prices on many goods have come down and are of better quality. Such as the color TV. I also recall paying $5 for a really good white dress shirt (made in USA) in the early 1960's. Not as good quality, but you can get shirts for $15 at discount stores (made in some third world country) .

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Do you know any place where I can compare a pound of Russet potatoes or Rib eye steak or a gallon of milk or a visit to the doctor for a yearly check-u p (without some bs insurance) or a semester of English 101 at Harvard (with out tuition assistance) or a gallon of gasoline? Unlike appliances, all tho se things have not changed. For that matter, I remember paying $150.00 for a calculator in 1976 that I can buy today for $1.99 and I would prefer the old appliances that were built to last anyway. Technology is not a good com parison.

Reply to
recyclebinned

Much of the problem is the College Grad themselves. Are they Mechanical engineers? Biologists? No, many of them took 5th Century Greek sculpture as a major and wonder why they can't find a job.

I advertised for a Maintenance type of job. One of my applicants took culinary arts in high school and one year at Johnson & Wales. He never had a wrench in his hand. He quit a coking job because he did not like it.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

But not so many years ago employers were telling young people, "We don't care what kind of degree you have: the mere fact that you have completed college makes you a more desirable employee."

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

And the good quality, american dress shirt is about $60, more or less.

Reply to
clare

Reply to
clare

What American dress shirts for $60? I haven't seen one in years. The typical quality dress shirt made overseas retails for $45 - $60.

Reply to
trader4

There is probably some truth to that, but it is not working. If you earned a college degree, you know how to learn, have some ambition, and I can train you to do my job. I, OTOH, will not hire you for a minimum wage low skill job if you have not finished high school. The kids that drop out are also losers in the workplace. Poor attendance, poor work habits, etc. (exceptions are those older than 40 or so)

Many good jobs do not require a degree but trade school. I know a guy having a hard time finding a HVAC tech for $22 an hour. I have five supervisors, only one with a degree. If I ranked them in order, he is probably #4 of 5. The one ranked #1 has the least education, but the most talent for what we do. And a $65k income.

I wonder if it is too easy to get a college degree these days and aside from specialized skills, even needed. Engineers, doctors, pharmacists all need a lot of education, but a degree does not make you a better middle manager, warehouse supervisor, trucking terminal manager, and the like.

My son has some schooling, but not a degree. He has some talent in the medical field (where he makes his living) and was asked if he'd like to be a doctor or surgeon. His reply, "I don't want to take a pay cut"

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I remember a business instructor from many, many moons ago. He applied for a job at a meatpacking plant. A test was part of the application process. He did too well on the test and wasn't hired. The meatpacking people said he would quickly get bored with the job and quit.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

These items are cheaper because of increased automation.

This is also why things like health care and education in part keep going up because the same number of individuals are required in the process.

Threads talking about the price of shirts are mentioning an item that has largely gone offshore because factories full of seamstresses are still needed. Apparel like stockings are still made here as they are completely machine made.

Reply to
Frank

I buy them for $15-$30, tops. Wait until they're on sale. In the late Winter, it's pretty easy to find long-sleeved shirts (all I wear) at a very good price. Last year I found a bunch of nice Oxfords for about $20.

Reply to
krw

They found that those with a degree in Women's Studies, Black Studies, or similar, weren't worth more than a high school dropout but their expectations were quite above their abilities.

Reply to
krw

And concludes that everybody is getting richer, which is quite unwarranted unless the time cost of little things like food, housing, transportation, medical care, education, and taxes are also taken into account. This kind of half-baked, disingenuous crap is about the only thing AEI puts out any more. Like many of the other so-called "conservative" or "free enterprise" organizations, it has largely become a shill for big business.

Reply to
Neill Massello

Per Dean Hoffman :

I wonder where they are getting their inflation multiplier.

When I run $2.09 through

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I get $16.31

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and
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each give $16.80.

Both figures being a long way from American Enterprise Institute's $19.30.

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

Americans are spending less of their disposible income on food as time goes by. I looked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture site. It has that type of information but it is unavailable due to the "shutdown". There is a chart here:

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Americans spent about 23% of their disposable income in 1930. We were spending about 9.5% of it by 2010. I wonder why the big spike in the mid to late 1940s. Wouldn't it be tough to compare medical costs over time? Doctors have a bunch of new toys and techniques they didn't have in the past.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

Per Ed Pawlowski:

My son-in-law recently had to hire somebody to help test financial planning software. He decided that one litmus test was whether the applicant could demonstrate an understanding of compound interest.

He had to interview twenty-seven *college graduates* before he found somebody who could.

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

Perhaps now you understand why we elect the people we do.

Reply to
krw

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