[BGHater]

BTW, What cost $23,950 in 1814 would cost $242,638.13 in 2008.

[BroJoeK]

"BTW, What cost $23,950 in 1814 would cost $242,638.13 in 2008."

A lot more than that, depending on how you calculate it. Remember, a good measure of money's worth is in how much effort it represents.
In this particular case, $23,950 in 1814 would represent in 2007:

• .....$292,108 adjusted by the Consumer Price Index
• .....$303,053 using the GDP deflator
• ...$3,991,502 compared to average unskilled wages
• ...$8,460,540 compared to GDP per capita
• $315,752,993 as a relative share of GDP.

That last figure, $316 million, I'd say is the most accurate reflection, relatively speaking, of how much taxpayer money went to pay for Jefferson's library.

In other words, Congress's purchase of Jefferson's library cost less, in today's terms, than an aircraft carrier, but about the same as Alaska's notorious "Bridge to Nowhere."

And, no doubt, that library was worth more overall than the infamous bridge would have been... ;-)