[ARC5] And again about them costs...

[David Stinson]

Gordon wrote:

>I have the contract figures for what the Govt paid for the Command 
>Equipment. Just off the top of my head, I believe an AN/ARC-5 receiver 
>was costing the U.S. about $363 each. According to the Bureau of Labor 
>Statistics that would be $4,228 today

While its a big factor, straight-line figuring of price inflation 
doesn't really give us a picture of the difference between
the two times.  We have to figure in purchasing power 
per hour of work.  What matters is not the number
of "dollars" in your pocket, but how many hours of work
you must exchange per unit of value.
If you want to really get depressed about 
how and why your daddy could raise seven kids on 
$500 a month while you can't raise two on $5000, 
consider the case above, but let's factor the numbers down
by an order to reflect some consumer item, rather than a military radio-
$36 vs $423 in today's inflated dollars:

The average Joe Schmoe in 1944 is making, say, 
$2 an hour for his modestly skilled labor. 
It will take him 18 hours of labor to buy that item. 

Joe Schmoe's grandson buys that item 
with $423 inflated dollars.
He works at his modestly-skilled job for $16 an hour.
It will take him *26* hours of labor to buy that item.

That's why your daddy could raise a house full of kids, 
but you can't.  You have inflated "dollars," 
but that's only part of the problem.  
The worse part is the *deflation* in the value placed
on a man-hour of work.  Perhaps, with the obscene 
level of human population on the planet, it's just a 
reflection of "supply and demand;" there are more
skilled workers available so you can 
exchange less value to get them.

So much for my 10-cent economics...