don boudreaux on the stagnating middle class, presented at cato university on 7/25/2011
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Don Boudreaux on the stagnating middle class, presented at Cato University on 7/25/2011 Edited by Hal snarr. The good old days vs. today. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Don Boudreaux on the stagnating middle class,
presented at Cato University on 7/25/2011
Edited by Hal snarr
• The nominal average wage for non-supervisory workers in the U.S. in 1975 was $4.87 per hour
In 2011 dollars, that’s $20.16 per hour
• Today’s nominal average wage for non-supervisory workers in the U.S is $19.00 per hour
First, watch Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under Clinton (click here), argue that Americans are no better off today than they were before Reagan and “laissez faire” economics.
The good old days vs. today
1975(2011 $$s) Today
dozen eggs $3.190.16 hrs
$1.580.08 hrs
$6.500.32 hrs
gallon whole milk $3.620.19 hrs
pound ofground beef
$3.38 [1978]0.20 hrs
$2.770.15 hrs
An employee works 0.16 hours (at
$4.87/hr) to buy a dozen eggs in 1975
An employee works half as long (.08 hrs) to buy a dozen eggs
today
The good old days vs. today
1975(2011 dollars)
Today
wholechicken/lb
$3.35 [1978]0.18 hrs
$1.310.07 hrs
butter/lb $4.54 [1978]0.24 hrs
$3.610.19 hrs
large tomatoes/l
b
$1.920.10 hrs
$1.67 [1978]0.10 hrs
7.5 ozs.toothpaste
$4.42 [1970]0.17 hrs
$2.190.12 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$151.037.5 hrs
(2011 dollars)$23.69
1.2 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$3,103.97154 hrs
(2011 dollars) $239.00
32” HD LCD 720p
12.6 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$1,220.79
61.6 hrs
(2011 dollars)
21.6” LCD HD 720p
$1497.8 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$322.63(2011 dollars)16 hrs
$109
13” LCD HD 720p
5.7 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$246.27
12.2 hrs
(2011 dollars)
available at Amazon.com
$11.00
0.58 hrs
You don’t need this today because
your cell phone does it
XThe good old days vs. today
$246.27$17.60 per song (holds 14)
12.2 hrs
(2011 dollars)
iPod Nano16GB
$1795 cents per song (holds 4000)
9.4 hrs
You don’t need this today because
your cell phone does it.
X
The good old days vs. today
The least-pricey turntable:$163.45
163.45 per album8.1 hrs
(2011 dollars) $115.44$23 per album
6.1 hrs
Sony 5-disc CD player
The good old days vs. today
$1,054.73
57.3 hrs
(2011 dollars) $99952.6 hrs
MacBook Air
The good old days vs. today
$1,436.22
71.3 hrs
(2011 dollars)
4.8 hrs
$92.00
12.0 mp
You don’t need this today because
your cell phone does it
XThe good old days vs. today
Sound camera, projector, & screen
$2,069.44102.7 hrs
(2011 dollars) $42.902.3 hrs
You don’t need this today because
your cell phone does it
XThe good old days vs. today
least-pricey one:$411.8320.4 hrs
(2011 dollars) $17.530.92 hrs
least-pricey one at Amazon.com(It’s an Emerson)
You don’t need this today because
your cell phone does it
XThe good old days vs. today
$860.70 $20710.9 hrs
available fromBusinessSupply.com
(2011 dollars)42.7 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$168.66
8.4 hrs
Bridgestone Potenza165/13
$68.70
3.6 hrs
(2011 dollars)
The good old days vs. today
$786.1938.4 hrs
40,000 BTU, 2 burner62,000 BTU 5-burner gas
$249
13.1(2011 dollars)
The good old days vs. today
$1,820.93 (2011 dollars)90.3 hrs
0.9 cu. ft., 600 watts
0.9 cu ft., 900 watts
$583.1 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$827.58 (2011 dollars)
41.1 hrs
Home Depot’s least-pricey standard-sized washer
$349
18.4 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$2,814.28 (2011 dollars)139.6 hrs
Sears*Best 22.1 cu. ft & no ice dispenser
21.9 cu. ft., G.E.
$1,124.10
at Home Depot
59.2 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$765.50 (2011 dollars)
38 hrs
5.78 cu. ft. 5.1 cu. ft., Magic Chef
$299
15.7 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$661.82 (2011 dollars)
32.9 hrs
10’ x 14’
$97
5.1 hrs
10’ x 18’
The good old days vs. today
$140.68 (2011 dollars)
7 hrs
$49.99
2.6 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$2,069.27 (2011 dollars)
102.7 hrs
$698
Home Depot
36.7 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$682.72 (2011 dollars)
33.9 hrs
Eureka
$65.99
3.5 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$94.58 (2011 dollars)
4.7 hrs
$4.50at Amazon.com
0.24 hrs
You don’t need this today because
your cell phone does it
XThe good old days vs. today
$70.32 (2011 dollars)
3.5 hrs
$29.99 at Ikea
1.6 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$972.45 (2011 dollars)
68.8 hrs
$899
Home Depot’s priciest
47.3 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$868.97 (2011 dollars)43.1 hrs
$19910.5 hrs
At Home Depot
The good old days vs. today
$248.30 (2011 dollars)(the bottom one)
12.3 hrs
$67
3.5 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$41.35 (2011 dollars)2.1 hrs
$29.991.6 hrs
polyester/rayonat Target
The good old days vs. today
Apple II 1 MHz, 4KB of RAM (1977)
external floppy drive, 1 floppy disk (228 KB), 2D graphics, NO
mouse
Mac Pro Quad-Core 2.8 GHz, 3GB of RAM, 1 TB Hard Drive,
SuperDrive, 3D graphics, mouse, keyboard
132 hrs
The good old days vs. today
$0.0025 per KB of RAM$ 0.22 per MHz
$0.0000025 per storage KB (HD & SD)≈ 345 hrs
$1738.80 per KB of RAM$6955.20 per MHz
$30.51 per storage KB (floppy drive)
$6955.20 (2011 dollars) $2499
Is a non-supervisory worker better off making 4.87 per hour in 1975 or making $19 an hour in 2011?
• Suppose you are right of high school, working in a non-supervisory position.
The good old days vs. today
• You have an empty apartment, and need one of each of the durable goods listed above with the exception of 4 tires, 4 chairs, and 10 pants
• You also need to stock up on groceries (for the year). Assume you consume the following quantities a year:
The good old days vs. today
Quantitydozen eggs 21gallons of milk 23lbs of beef 65lbs of chicken 40lbs of butter 5tomatoes 10toothpaste 10
The total cost of the lower quality 1975 products in 2011 dollars is
The total cost of higher quality 2011 products is
The good old days vs. today
$33,019.011667 hours of work
$9598.91505 hours of work
Is Robert Reich correct?Was it better in the good old days?