Economics > Purchasing Power 1975 vs. 2006
Purchasing power comparison based on a comparison of average hourly wage of production workers in 1975 and 2006, and the cost of items in the Sears catalog for the same years. Via Marginal Revolutions.
Sears’ lowest-priced 10-inch table saw: 52.35 hours of work required in 1975; 7.34 hours of work required in 2006.
Sears’ lowest-priced gasoline-powered lawn mower: 13.14 hours of work required in 1975 (to buy a lawn-mower that cuts a 20-inch swathe); 8.56 hours of work required in 2006 (to buy a lawn-mower that cuts a 22-inch swathe. Sears no longer sells a power mower that cuts a swathe smaller than 22 inches.)
Posted by lesjones
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