OMGWTFBBQ?!
I knew that we were in bad shape, but I hadn't actually realized just HOW bad until moments ago.
In 1873, an ounce of gold was valued at $20.67 USD.
According to kitco.com, on today's date, January 13, 2007, an ounce of gold is valued at $899.30 USD.
In 135 years, this is an inflationary rise of 4350.75%
Assuming that a dollar was actually worth a dollar in 1873, today the dollar is worth 1 to 43.5075 specie. In other words, the dollar today is actually worth 2.298 cents.
In January 1998, an ounce of gold was valued at $252.80 USD an ounce. Even if we made the gross assumption that a dollar was worth a dollar in 1998 (the dollar was actually worth about 8 cents in 1998) it would only be worth about 28 cents today. This is an inflationary rise of 355% in just the last ten years!
So, do a little math. Take whatever you earn: hourly, weekly, monthly, whatever. Multiply that by 0.02298. That's what you actually make in REAL dollars.
I make about $27.58 a month. How about you?
To put things in perspective, however, the dollar today is doing about 3.86 times better than the Continental dollar was doing at the end of the Revolutionary War, where in 1783 it was worth about 1 to 168 specie, or about 0.6 cents.
Don't you think we would have learned a valuable lesson about runaway inflation in 225 years?
In 1873, an ounce of gold was valued at $20.67 USD.
According to kitco.com, on today's date, January 13, 2007, an ounce of gold is valued at $899.30 USD.
In 135 years, this is an inflationary rise of 4350.75%
Assuming that a dollar was actually worth a dollar in 1873, today the dollar is worth 1 to 43.5075 specie. In other words, the dollar today is actually worth 2.298 cents.
In January 1998, an ounce of gold was valued at $252.80 USD an ounce. Even if we made the gross assumption that a dollar was worth a dollar in 1998 (the dollar was actually worth about 8 cents in 1998) it would only be worth about 28 cents today. This is an inflationary rise of 355% in just the last ten years!
So, do a little math. Take whatever you earn: hourly, weekly, monthly, whatever. Multiply that by 0.02298. That's what you actually make in REAL dollars.
I make about $27.58 a month. How about you?
To put things in perspective, however, the dollar today is doing about 3.86 times better than the Continental dollar was doing at the end of the Revolutionary War, where in 1783 it was worth about 1 to 168 specie, or about 0.6 cents.
Don't you think we would have learned a valuable lesson about runaway inflation in 225 years?