Libra then and now...

Posted by: jabber

Libra then and now... - 10/13/12 07:30 PM

Okay. Got a card in the mail today pointing out the different between prices in 1960 and now!

Gallon of milk then $ 1.04 / now 2012, $ 3.97
Loaf of bread .20 / l.89
New car 2,275.00 / 28,400.00
Gallon of gas .25 / 3.57
Home 30,000.00 / 264,140.00
Ave. income 5,199.00 / 40,584.00
Dow Jones 615.89 / 12,217.56

Senior thesis was on inflation. And it still blows me away!
Posted by: Anne HolmesAdministrator

Re: Libra then and now... - 10/13/12 10:19 PM

I started driving in 1968. I recall that gas was still less than a buck a gallon back then. Seems to me gas really started going up in the late 70s.

What did your thesis say about inflation, Jabber? (Love that you also did a thesis: My thesis was on how women 50-plus get their information? As in do they prefer different media than do those 18-24, o4 those in their 30s? Hopefully some intrepid student has reworked that thesis, since social media and the Internet were not available when I did my research.)
Posted by: jabber

Re: Libra then and now... - 10/15/12 07:13 PM

That thesis was for my senior year economics class. Remember getting a 95 out of 100 grade on it and subject matter including inflation's positive and negative effects on an economy. Stuff like interest rates regulated by central banks; investment encouraging; money supply; and rise in the general level of goods and services pricing, blah, blah, blah. The ususal bloviating on such a dry topic; conclusion being most economists favor a low, steady rate of inflation, enabling the labor market to adjust more quickly in a downturn. I can remember my folks' taking mortgages at 14 to 16 per cent, back in the dark ages! LOL...
Posted by: Anne HolmesAdministrator

Re: Libra then and now... - 10/15/12 09:29 PM

I remember them being that high in my lifetime. Maybe in the 80s? But I also recall my parent's first house bought in the mid-50s had a mortgage rate around 4%. Probably similar to what they are now -- just guessing, as I haven't been in the mortgage market for a few years...
Posted by: jabber

Re: Libra then and now... - 10/16/12 03:18 PM

I know, Anne. Interest rates sure have dropped. Many car loans have bottomed out at 0% in recent years. The global economic situation has a person scratching their head! It seems from the early 1950s to the late 1980s folks' experienced a booming economy; then things went awry.
Posted by: Anne HolmesAdministrator

Re: Libra then and now... - 10/16/12 07:36 PM

Yes, my daughter is looking at buying a new car. She says how can she not, when hers is 12 years old and several manufacturers are offering 0% interest right now...