[Heisenburger]

Any help would be appreciated.

[good_ash]

No offense, but did you try doing a search before asking? It was the first result on google:

http://www.google.com/search?q=inflation+calculator

[epow]

Try this. http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

[eabinga]

Try http://www.cjr.org/resources/inflater.asp

[cinFLA]

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/bu2/inflate.html Did you try a web search? I found the above in less than 15 seconds!

[MFSanders]

Very simple. Do you a spreadsheet like Excel? If so, simply downland the consumer price index (CPI) from the web (can be found by using a search engine such as Google or Hotbot) and paste into Excel. You put the value in 1948 in the first cell in a column next to the CPI data. Multiply the value of the 1948 value by 1+CPI for 1949 (if annual CPI is used). The multiply this new value by 1+CPI for 1950, etc., etc. Eventually, you will get the 1948 value grossed up to 2001.

If you use monthly CPI, it is the same procedure. Using the copy and paste command to perform the operation.

I hope this helps.

[cactmh]

There will be some type of index. You will multiply that number by the 1948 dollars...

[Justice]

What cost $13000000000 in 1948 would cost $96842756713.51 in 2000.

Equivalently, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2000 and 1948, they would cost you $13000000000 and $1745096956.50 respectively.

Click Here for calculator.

[gfactor]

was the marshall plan aid (gifts) or loans? at what interest? and how much did america profit from the loans?

I'm too lazy to look this up, figured you might know...

[robnoel]

1948 $1.00 ..2001 $7.48...according to the Fed

http://minneapolisfed.org/economy/calc/cpihome.html

[RDangerfield]

Here is a converter formula:
link --Raoul

[RLK]

The figures here are a little low. In about 58 the Eisenhower budget was an incredible $50,000,000,000. In 1948 a yearly salary of $6,000 per year was large. The average national salary was about $55.00 per week.

[Uriel1975]

Personally, I would ditch all the consumer-price-index comparisons and so forth. Vastly different consumer products and living standards today, etc.

For this kind of question, I would advise you use a straight Nominal GDP comparison... Gross Domestic Product represents a (rough, but economically useful) estimate of the total production of the entire domestic economy in one year, so factoring out the "percentage GDP cost" of the program in question vs. the nominal GDP for that year gives you an idea of "how much" was really taken out of the domestic economy to fund the program -- regardless of the vagaries of consumer price indices, etc.

For example:

1948
• Nominal GDP in 1948 -- $260 Billion dollars
• Cost of Marshall Plan -- $13 Billion dollars
• GDP cost of program -- 5% of total Gross Domestic product.

  2001

• Nominal GDP in 2001 -- approx. $9 Trillion Dollars
• Equivalent 2001 "percentage GDP cost"
  for a program costing 5% of Nominal GDP -- $450 Billion dollars

See? Pretty simple.