Then and now...
well since I have a post secondary degree, I decided to put it to good use today... I did some outside research... As well as job hunting and everything else that needed to be done... since I'm so good at that... This is not meant to be an attack on anyone or any thing, it is simply a statement of fact in comparison of people in 1978 and people today. This is complements of http://www.1970sflashback.com/1978/ECONOMY.asp
IN 1978
Economy
President: James Earl Carter, Jr.
Vice President: Walter F. Mondale
Population: 222,584,545
Life expectancy: 73.5 years
Dow-Jones
High: 893
Low: 807
Federal spending: $458.75 billion
Federal debt: $776.6 billion
Inflation: 12.4%
Consumer Price Index: 65.2
Unemployment: 7.1%
Prices
Cost of a new home: $62,500.00
Cost of a new car: $
Median Household Income: $15,064.00
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.13 ($0.15 as of 5/29/78)
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $0.63
Cost of a dozen eggs: $0.82
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $1.71
1 dollar to pesos: 22.5 pesos
TODAY
It was actually really difficult to find actual information that is viable today... It's like no one wants to tell the truth about what's really going on out there.... I do find this pesky word "recession" an awful lot all over the place as I research... There is so much conflicting data that it may actually take a bit to sort it all out!
President: George Walker Bush
Vice President: Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney
Population: 304,357,572
Life expectancy: 78 years
Dow-Jones
High: 14198.10
Low: 11634.82
Federal spending: $166 Trillion
Federal debt: 9,420,237,733,868.73 (according to http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/)
Inflation: (since I couldn't get a strait answer in this outside of this.. $1.00 in 1978 has the same buying power as $3.32 today.. by http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl)
Consumer Price Index: 216.632 (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm)
Unemployment: 6%
Prices
Cost of a new home: $247,900 - $313,600
Cost of a new car: $28400.60
Median Household Income: $ 48,201
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.49
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $4.00
Cost of a dozen eggs: $2.17
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $4.31
1 dollar to pesos: 10 pesos
So, Now that I've done all this, which actually took a bit over an hour... Some things are becoming clear... I would kill an asshole in 1978 just so I could get those prices now... *sigh* This is not out here to be an escape goat, and it is not here to be depressing, its here to show the truth about some really screwed up shit that our government is doing to us...
IN 1978
Economy
President: James Earl Carter, Jr.
Vice President: Walter F. Mondale
Population: 222,584,545
Life expectancy: 73.5 years
Dow-Jones
High: 893
Low: 807
Federal spending: $458.75 billion
Federal debt: $776.6 billion
Inflation: 12.4%
Consumer Price Index: 65.2
Unemployment: 7.1%
Prices
Cost of a new home: $62,500.00
Cost of a new car: $
Median Household Income: $15,064.00
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.13 ($0.15 as of 5/29/78)
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $0.63
Cost of a dozen eggs: $0.82
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $1.71
1 dollar to pesos: 22.5 pesos
TODAY
It was actually really difficult to find actual information that is viable today... It's like no one wants to tell the truth about what's really going on out there.... I do find this pesky word "recession" an awful lot all over the place as I research... There is so much conflicting data that it may actually take a bit to sort it all out!
President: George Walker Bush
Vice President: Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney
Population: 304,357,572
Life expectancy: 78 years
Dow-Jones
High: 14198.10
Low: 11634.82
Federal spending: $166 Trillion
Federal debt: 9,420,237,733,868.73 (according to http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/)
Inflation: (since I couldn't get a strait answer in this outside of this.. $1.00 in 1978 has the same buying power as $3.32 today.. by http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl)
Consumer Price Index: 216.632 (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm)
Unemployment: 6%
Prices
Cost of a new home: $247,900 - $313,600
Cost of a new car: $28400.60
Median Household Income: $ 48,201
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.49
Cost of a gallon of regular gas: $4.00
Cost of a dozen eggs: $2.17
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $4.31
1 dollar to pesos: 10 pesos
So, Now that I've done all this, which actually took a bit over an hour... Some things are becoming clear... I would kill an asshole in 1978 just so I could get those prices now... *sigh* This is not out here to be an escape goat, and it is not here to be depressing, its here to show the truth about some really screwed up shit that our government is doing to us...