# Sam Stone believes Trump's tweets **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633 "2020-10-10T13:47:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 56
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1104 "2021-08-26T04:12:32Z")
Here’s a conversation where someone claims to have called World Book and was told that the 1972 World Book Encyclopedia sold for $315-520. > **[World Book Encyclopedia cost early 1970's?](https://absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php?threads%2Fworld-book-encyclopedia-cost-early-1970s.173306%2F)** > > Can anyone tell me how much a set of World Book Encyclopedias cost in the early 1970's? > > Current editions cost apx. $1000.00, inflation calculators give me a cost of $190.00 in 1972. > > Seems like I remember my dad bitching that they cost more than... Not the exact same book or date, but in thw ballpark. Other conversations online seem to confirm similar numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1105 "2021-08-26T04:20:08Z")
Sam’s probably thinking of 1980 prices in Canadian dollars. You are correct that US$2K in 1980 sounds high for the EB, considering that [in 1988, the EB cost US$1400 per set.](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1988-12-14-0090100181-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1106 "2021-08-26T05:05:22Z")
Yes, that would be in Canada. At the time, you could get a decent used car for $2000, so it was the kind of thing poor families just didn’t have. When I had to research something for school, I had to take the bus to the public library. My wealthier friends with encyclopedias had a big advantage. And if you were a self learner, the encyclopedia was your internet. You could immerse yourself in it for hours, following topics or just looking up interesting stuff. If there was one thing I wish we could have afforded back then, it would be a good encyclopedia. Today anyone with a smartphone, which includes even the poorest quintiles, have cheap or free access to information vastly greater than even the rich had access to just a few decades ago. That too is an equalizing force. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1107 "2021-08-26T05:27:12Z")
I still haven’t seen a cite that an encyclopedia cost $2000 in 1980. Also, Sam, would you address the rest of my post? Innovation and availability of new consumer goods has nothing to do with supply-side, trickle down policies. Nothing at all. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1108 "2021-08-26T05:40:13Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > > > Back in the day, entertainments that were available to rich people (travel, operas, restaurants, high society) were utterly unavailable to the poor. > > ?? What “day” are we supposed to be “back in” at this point? Apparently 1159. The Hanseatic League originated in Lübeck around that time. Saskatchewan’s Dumbest Economist actually traces supply-side economics to that time rather than to the theories of Arthur Laffer. And yet, the first use of the term was probably by economist Herb Stein in the 1970s. Stein’s ideas were based on the work of Laffer. Stein died in 1999. Laffer is still alive. So I’m pretty certain they weren’t around in the 12th century peddling these ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1109 "2021-08-26T05:45:56Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Yes, that would be in Canada. At the time, you could get a decent used car for $2000, so it was the kind of thing poor families just didn’t have. Even in Canadian money, it seems odd that an EB set would cost as much as $2000 in 1980. AFAIK the exchange rate at the time was something like 1.17, so a $1400 EB set in the US ought to be only around $1650 in Canadian dollars. Not that $1650 is an insignificant sum either for poor people, just wondering about what seems like a rather high estimate for this particular price. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Today anyone with a smartphone, which includes even the poorest quintiles, have cheap or free access to information vastly greater than even the rich had access to just a few decades ago. That too is an equalizing force. Well, not really “equalizing”, in that just as in the old days, the rich still have far better access to the source of information. As I noted, about 1 in 20 kids have to go somewhere other than the home to get access to the internet, just as you had to go to the library to get access to the encyclopedia. Kids in rich families tend to have more high-quality internet service and more and better devices to access it on. So yeah, we certainly all have easier access nowadays to better (or at least much more abundant) information than we used to. But poor kids are still disadvantaged compared to rich kids in terms of ease of access. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1110 "2021-08-26T08:32:57Z")
What other encyclopedias were available in the 80s, and how much did they cost? I had a set of Funk and Wagnals back then. I don’t know what my parents paid for it, but no way it was $1400. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1111 "2021-08-26T10:34:23Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What other encyclopedias were available in the 80s, and how much did they cost? I had a set of Funk and Wagnals back then. I don’t know what my parents paid for it, but no way it was $1400. - [Slate](https://slate.com/technology/2012/03/the-encyclopedia-britannica-was-expensive-useless-and-exploitative-im-glad-its-gone.html). (article dated 2012) > That’s why I felt no twinge of sadness when the Britannica company announced this week that it has [suspended its print edition](http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2012/03/looking-ahead/). From now on, no more impressionable parents will be guilted into spending enormous sums—**the set now goes [for $1,400]**([Merriam-Webster Dictionaries – Merriam-Webster Shop](http://store.britannica.com/products/ecm001en0))—to help their kids do better in school. Good riddance! 2012, not 1980. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1112 "2021-08-26T10:48:33Z")
And it’s not like encyclopedia sales weren’t the height of honest capitalism, > **[Death of a Sales Scheme: Encyclopedia Shysters of the Door-to-Door Age | The...](https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/08/death-sales-scheme-encyclopedia-shysters-door-door-age/)** > > May I trick you into buying a full set of encyclopedias? CMC who’s childhood _whatever_ encyclopedia wasn’t bought in a book store. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1113 "2021-08-26T15:59:25Z")
Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. I was asking about the price of encyclopedias _other_ than Britannica. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1114 "2021-08-26T16:21:08Z")
In about 1983, I was at a grocery store and they had a display of encyclopedias. It was one of those deals where the first volume was 9 cents, and that was to get you to come back and buy all the remaining volumes as they came out. I think they were still less than 10 dollars for each one. I bought 20 copies of volume 1. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1115 "2021-08-26T16:53:43Z")
Conservative tax policy here in Texas: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51404359333_a62f81ff08_z.jpg "2021-08-26\_11-51-55") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/51404359333/) Liberal ‘wealth destruction’ tax policy in California: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51405078405_92833b54a5_z.jpg "2021-08-26\_11-52-52") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/51405078405/) Note that it takes more to be a 1%er in CA than TX. Don’t think that matters, but just wanted to note that the scale does change in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1116 "2021-08-26T17:04:08Z")
That’s why, in the “free market” of state economies, California is an economic hellhole, where no businesses thrive and nobody wants to live and work. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1117 "2021-08-26T17:04:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What other encyclopedias were available in the 80s, and how much did they cost? I had a set of Funk and Wagnals back then. I don’t know what my parents paid for it, but no way it was $1400. Funk & Wagnalls were sold in grocery stores. They’d issue a new volume every week or so, and Mom would just pick it up like she would 3 lbs. of chuck. After all the volumes were issued they offered yearbooks and a dictionary/thesaurus set. Each volume was maybe $4.95 or so. Nothing outrageous, and you just hoped your teacher wouldn’t assign a research paper on zebras before you completed the set! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1118 "2021-08-26T17:08:31Z")
I had a vague memory of my mom collecting the volumes at the local supermarket, but wasn’t entirely sure it was something that had actually happened, because it seemed a weird place to by buying Encyclopedias, especially piece-meal. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1119 "2021-08-26T17:27:39Z")
I actually remember those too. But I wanted to get them, but my parents wouldn’t buy them, since we already had a set of encyclopedias. That that set was 6 years older than I was, and was missing the latter half of the “M”'s didn’t seem to persuade them otherwise. I still remember reading about the space program in them, and since they were printed before the last Apollo mission, they had a list of all the “upcoming” planned missions, which never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1120 "2021-08-26T17:50:39Z")
The thread is long, and I’ve not a lot of time, but Sam thinks that innovation and better standards of living more than make up for the loss of middle-class income since 1980? One quick question, and I’m sorry if it’s been mentioned, but do the wealthy also get those innovations and better standards of living? I mean, can a wealthy person buy a TV better than the ones in 1980? If so, that kinda seems like a bad argument. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1121 "2021-08-26T17:53:21Z")
Holy shit. I never thought of that! 😅 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1122 "2021-08-26T18:09:52Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > The thread is long, and I’ve not a lot of time, but Sam thinks that innovation and better standards of living more than make up for the loss of middle-class income since 1980? I never once said that. I said there are other factors than income that have to be looked at. That’s all. That’s multiple times in this thread people have completely mischaracterized what I said, while I deal with endless nitpicks. > [@Lobohan](#): > > One quick question, and I’m sorry if it’s been mentioned, but do the wealthy also get those innovations and better standards of living? I mean, can a wealthy person buy a TV better than the ones in 1980? The rich pay a disproportionally smaller part of their income on such goods, remember? One of the arguments for giving ‘stimulus’ money to the poor is that they tend to spend all of it, while the rich will just add it to their savings. Anything which brings down the cost or increases the quality of staple goods like food and transportation disproportionally improves the lives of the poor. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633/1123 "2021-08-26T18:13:00Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > The thread is long, and I’ve not a lot of time, but Sam thinks that innovation and better standards of living more than make up for the loss of middle-class income since 1980? I thought his argument was that we had to throw buckets of money at the rich in order to get that innovation and better standards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633.md?page=55) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-stone-believes-trumps-tweets/922633.md?page=57)