Tag: comparing wages/prices across time
Prices of slaves on the eastern shore of Maryland before the Civil War.
Posted onWatched the uplifting and depressing movie Harriet last night. Second time I’ve seen it. Fabulous tale about the efforts of Harriet Tubman in liberating herself from slavery, then liberating most of her family, eventually freeing about 70 people from slavery. After watching the movie again, wanted to pull together a recap of the posts on […]
A wild guess on the parts of King Solomon’s wealth that can be quantified – part 4
Posted onLet’s try bringing together the previous guesses (can’t even call them estimates) of the value of those portions of King Solomon’s wealth that are mentioned in scriptures which we can make a feeble attempt to quantify. An estimate of the value of chariots, horses, 200 large gold shields, 300 small gold shields, and place settings […]
Guess at value of 1946 estate expressed in 2019 dollars
Posted onThe values assigned to my grandfather’s estate when it was probated are listed here. My determination of a adjustment factor of 13 to bring 1946 prices forward to today is shown here. The extended string of assumptions I’ve made shows a rough guess of the estate: 1946- worth $8,085 gross, with $7,785 after the […]
Consumer price index from 1940 through 2019
Posted onFor an indicator of the changes in prices from the World War 2 era through today I pulled CPI information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This info will roll into my comments on the probate document for my grandfather’s estate. It is also useful for general information. The furthest into the table I can […]
Military pay rates during World War Two compared to 2019
Posted onWhat were the pay rates during World War Two in contrast to pay rates in the U.S. military today? What is the ratio of today’s pay compared to WWII? The Navy CyberSpace website provides 2019 U.S. Military Basic Pay Charts. That same web site also helpfully provides 1942-1946 U.S. Military Pay Charts. Both pay scales […]
Pay rate for privates in each of America’s wars
Posted onPay for American soldiers during each major war is provided by We Are the Mighty. Their article, This is how much troops were paid in every major American war, provides the pay for a private in the major wars fought by the U.S. The then-current pay is also adjusted to an equivalent amount of money […]
One usuable indicator of the value of a Viking sword. How many weapons you could buy today for that price?
Posted onWhat was the price of a Viking sword at the time? How about expressing a price then in some unit of measure we can grasp today? I have looked on the ol’ net but haven’t found any good guesses. Previous post discussed one indicator that I couldn’t process. Hurstwic website describes one sword that had […]
Cost and time to cross the Atlantic has dropped by more than 90% in the last 500 years.
Posted onTransatlantic travel time has dropped radically in the last 500 years. Time to transit the Atlantic has dropped about 99% and cost has dropped about 95% by my calculations. Let’s look at several data points for cost and time, then calculate one indicator of improved quality of life. (Article cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun […]
Salary for top level military leaders during and after the American Civil War
Posted onThis may not be ancient finances, but salary paid to the senior level military commanders in the 1860s and 1870s provides a worthwhile point of reference. William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country: A Life by James Lee McDonough is a delightful biography of the general. Gen. Sherman was a prolific letter writer. […]