[Bringbackthedraft]

Spinning wheels to no where. No longer a $1 hr wage, but no 12 cent loaf of bread, a $13,000 house or a new car for $1200. So now we make well over $1 an hour, its up to $8?, so what, a loaf of bread is over $1, a house maybe 120K a car closer to 25K. So what really improved? Most of us are no better off today than our parents and grand parents were in 1953. But one thing is different, we sure as hell had one great guy as a President back then. :o)

[reg45]

When it comes to the cost of an item, the number of hours worked to pay for an item is a better measure. Take for example a color television set. Color TV Price Comparison

BTW: CARPE DIEM is one of the best and informative web sites out there - its specialty is economics.

[oh8eleven]

Most of us are no better off today than our parents and grand parents were in 1953.
I disagree. Back in the day, hard working Americans got to keep most of their pay.
And - most of those working Americans were men; women were home with the kids.
Today, taxes are so friggin' high you need two incomes just to break even.

[21twelve]

I mentioned something like that to my dad once about the increase in wages and buying power (I was 19, 20?).

He looked at me and said “Well, all I know is when I started building houses (1948) I could buy two brand new Cadilacs with the profit if I wanted to. (He did have ONE Cadilac back then based on the old photos). But now, I’m lucky to be able to buy a used Chevy on the profit.”

Of course that would have been the Carter years when we had that conversation.