What's the deal with inflation?

Factual Questions
1

Does anyone have any comparative figures on inflation?

I’m asking because my church is trying to build a new building, and is having some trouble convincing the older members that the figures they are being given are not extravagant.

We have the figures for the original building, in 1898. What we would like to know is how much xx money in 1898 is equitable to, in 2000.

So: Let’s say the original building cost $10,000 in 1898. How much would that be in today’s money?

Thanks in advance.

–Tim

2

You can use the Columbia Journalism Review inflation calculator at http://www.cjr.org/resources/inflater.asp to make that calculation. It only goes to 1998, and it apparently rounds a lot, but it claims that $10,00 in 1898 dollars is the equivalent of $200,000 in 1998 dollars.

3

Well, let’s see. I have an old newspaper from around that era, and it lists monthly rent in this city as being 8 bux. For what it doesn’t say. However, the cheapest apartment available here now, excepting the filthiest dives, is around $400.
And food. A family could eat for $5 a month back then (partially, of course, because they grew their own veggies and hunted their own meat…)
Figure a multiplier on property values of at least 50 times. Hell, even in the past 30 years a house has gone from $25000 to $200,000! So 50 may be conservative…

4

That’s a rad link, WillGolfForFood.

5

Along the lines of this posting: The news claims that, accounting for inflation, gas prices really should be at about $6.00 per gallon extrapolating from the price for a gallon at the last gas crisis (late 1970’s).

If this were true, wouldn’t that mean milk would have been about $.15 a gallon in the late 1970’s to rise to about $2.00/gallon?
{Milk wasn’t that cheap then…that was another era…when they went to school in the snow up hill both ways! :)}

How can they draw such a wild conclusion? Especially when gas prices have often risen faster than the inflationary rate???

“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV

6

Yeah, Golf, I gotta agree. That was a great link. Thanks. Case closed.

–Tim

You can’t accidently create a handicapped baby whilst smoking pot.