But we also should not forget that the income also increased during the time. Not sure what one made in the mid 60's, maybe 5-6k or so, but my wife told me a Ford Mustang Convertible was about $2700 then. Probably being north of $35k these days.
30K - 62K, depending on the model. And none of them look at good as a '65 mustang, in my opinion.But we also should not forget that the income also increased during the time. Not sure what one made in the mid 60's, maybe 5-6k or so, but my wife told me a Ford Mustang Convertible was about $2700 then. Probably being north of $35k these days.
This last round of post-Covid inflation has me back to work, delivering food and other goods. It’s the easiest job I’ve ever had, but I still prefer retirement . <eg>Was head downtown on errands, stopped for quick something to calm hunger as I was near Pro Ranch Marketing PHX. They are what I call a cool experience in wrong part of town. Use to get a Carnitas Quesadilla for about $5.00 that was wonderful, yesterday the bill was $9.00. Still as good, but not as cheap as pre Covid.
Seems everything is going up up and, out of reach for many, sign of times.
But we also should not forget that the income also increased during the time. Not sure what one made in the mid 60's, maybe 5-6k or so, but my wife told me a Ford Mustang Convertible was about $2700 then. Probably being north of $35k these days.
Gas in 2000 where I lived, 99 cents a gallon or less for regular unleaded. Today it's 3.79 to 3.89.
Here is the quick point:
According to the Chained CPI measurement, inflation averaged 2.24% per year between 2000 and 2024, resulting in a total inflation of 70.12%. This means that $1 in 2000 has the same buying power as $1.70 in 2024.
It is not 5% less to me.
Well, here's the problem with that. And I use these numbers to illustrate my point, they are not exact.But we also should not forget that the income also increased during the time. Not sure what one made in the mid 60's, maybe 5-6k or so, but my wife told me a Ford Mustang Convertible was about $2700 then. Probably being north of $35k these days.
Well, here's the problem with that. And I use these numbers to illustrate my point, they are not exact.
Let's say it is 1975 and you buy a house for $60,000. Thirty years later and you've paid it off. And retired on fixed income. Then the county auditor comes along and says, "Good news! Your home is now valued at $140,000! It has increased in worth! Unfortunately, this will mean a higher property tax."
But when you see what $140,000 in 2005 translates down to in 1975 dollars, it is $60,000.
So...has the value of your home increased? No. The value of the dollar has decreased.
I've always been a proponent of property taxes being capped at a fixed rate of property value, and that value is only assessed and changed when the property is sold to a buyer.
...destroying the American energy industry these past few years has effectively wrecked the US economy.
Nutritional values aside, their ad then was, you could buy lunch there for a dollar, and still get change back. It was affordable.
Exactly, and our president is taking another million (?) barrels from our strategic reserves to try and lower prices and save his job. I've heard that the reserves are at a 40-year low.
We passed a gas station on the way to grocery shopping yesterday and the price was $3.41 per gallon. My wife was driving and said something like "that's the cheapest I've seen, I need to fill up after we shop".
A half hour later she pulled in and the price had changed to $3.75...almost 35 cents more.
Of course that is the-holiday-weekend-is-coming pricing, but still a bit ridiculous.
In any case, that release won't be at the gas pumps till the end of June or beginning of July.To be fair, that release is from the Northeast Reserve. The Northeast reserve was established in 2014.
That reserve was considered to be unnecessary and was ordered by Bipartisan Legislation to be shut down and emptied this past March.
It is a gasoline reserve rather than our typical crude oil reserves, and gasoline can't be stored long term, thus maintaining that reserve of gasoline costs 19 million a year due to stock rotation.
The million barrel release/sale will nearly empty that dead reserve.
Actually...
In any case, that release won't be at the gas pumps till the end of June or beginning of July.
I can't take hardly any credit for what I wrote there. It is the bulk of a Reagan speech I probably heard second-hand as a teenager (after he was out if office). I remembered it because it was one of the earliest instances I recall of thinking the system is not biased in favor or regular people.I've always been a proponent of property taxes being capped at a fixed rate of property value, and that value is only assessed and changed when the property is sold to a buyer.
First of all, great post all the way around. A lot of stuff that needs to be said and you said it beautifully.There's one of those annoying "words and phrases", to cross connect with the other thread. Annoying is an understatement.
"Fossil fuel"
A slick marketing term concocted by John Rockefeller in the Nineteenth Century to inflate the prices of his product. There is zero scientific evidence that petroleum is derived from any fossils or past organic life. It is found and drilled for at depths far lower than where any fossils or any evidence of past life exists. Go ask any geologist.
First of all, great post all the way around. A lot of stuff that needs to be said and you said it beautifully.
Now, regarding the "fossil fuel" thing, I was always dubious about even in my youth. We were literally told in science class that petroleum came from rotting dinosaurs and it never made a lick of sense to me. And obviously, the science now has changed over the years although I still hear gasoline somewhat kidding referred to as "dead dinosaurs".
Whatever created it, there's nothing on the horizon that's a realistic or affordable substitute.