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Don Boudreaux on the stagnating middle class, presented at Cato University on 7/25/2011

Don Boudreaux on the stagnating middle class, presented at Cato University on 7/25/2011 Edited by Hal snarr. The good old days vs. today.

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Don Boudreaux on the stagnating middle class, presented at Cato University on 7/25/2011

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  1. Don Boudreaux on the stagnating middle class, presented at Cato University on 7/25/2011 Edited by Hal snarr

  2. The good old days vs. today First, watch Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under Clinton (click here), argue that Americans are no better off today than they were before Reagan and “laissez faire” economics. • The nominal average wage for non-supervisory workers in the U.S. in 1975 was $4.87 per hour In 2011 dollars, that’s $20.16 per hour • Today’s nominal average wage for non-supervisory workers in the U.S is $19.00 per hour

  3. The good old days vs. today An employee works 0.16 hours (at $4.87/hr) to buy a dozen eggs in 1975 An employee works half as long (.08 hrs) to buy a dozen eggs today 1975 (2011 $$s) Today $1.58 0.08 hrs $3.19 0.16 hrs dozen eggs $6.50 0.32 hrs $3.62 0.19 hrs gallon whole milk pound of ground beef $3.38 [1978] 0.20 hrs $2.77 0.15 hrs

  4. The good old days vs. today 1975 (2011 dollars) Today whole chicken/lb $1.31 0.07 hrs $3.35 [1978] 0.18 hrs $3.61 0.19 hrs $4.54 [1978] 0.24 hrs butter/lb large tomatoes/lb $1.67 [1978] 0.10 hrs $1.92 0.10 hrs $2.19 0.12 hrs 7.5 ozs. toothpaste $4.42 [1970] 0.17 hrs

  5. The good old days vs. today $23.69 (2011 dollars) $151.03 1.2 hrs 7.5 hrs

  6. The good old days vs. today 32” HD LCD 720p $239.00 $3,103.97 (2011 dollars) 154 hrs 12.6 hrs

  7. The good old days vs. today 21.6” LCD HD 720p $149 $1,220.79 (2011 dollars) 7.8 hrs 61.6 hrs

  8. The good old days vs. today 13” LCD HD 720p $322.63(2011 dollars) 16 hrs $109 5.7 hrs

  9. The good old days vs. today You don’t need this today because your cell phone does it X available at Amazon.com $11.00 $246.27 (2011 dollars) 0.58 hrs 12.2 hrs

  10. The good old days vs. today You don’t need this today because your cell phone does it. X iPod Nano 16GB $179 5 cents per song (holds 4000) 9.4 hrs $246.27 (2011 dollars) $17.60 per song (holds 14) 12.2 hrs

  11. The good old days vs. today Sony 5-disc CD player The least-pricey turntable: $163.45 163.45 per album $115.44 $23 per album (2011 dollars) 6.1 hrs 8.1 hrs

  12. The good old days vs. today MacBook Air (2011 dollars) $1,054.73 $999 52.6 hrs 57.3 hrs

  13. The good old days vs. today You don’t need this today because your cell phone does it X 12.0 mp $92.00 $1,436.22 (2011 dollars) 71.3 hrs 4.8 hrs

  14. The good old days vs. today You don’t need this today because your cell phone does it X Sound camera, projector, & screen $2,069.44 102.7 hrs $42.90 (2011 dollars) 2.3 hrs

  15. The good old days vs. today You don’t need this today because your cell phone does it X least-pricey one at Amazon.com (It’s an Emerson) least-pricey one: $411.83 20.4 hrs $17.53 0.92 hrs (2011 dollars)

  16. The good old days vs. today available from BusinessSupply.com $207 10.9 hrs $860.70 (2011 dollars) 42.7 hrs

  17. The good old days vs. today Bridgestone Potenza 165/13 (2011 dollars) $168.66 $68.70 8.4 hrs 3.6 hrs

  18. The good old days vs. today 62,000 BTU 5-burner gas 40,000 BTU, 2 burner $249 (2011 dollars) $786.19 38.4 hrs 13.1

  19. The good old days vs. today 0.9 cu ft., 900 watts 0.9 cu. ft., 600 watts $58 $1,820.93 (2011 dollars) 3.1 hrs 90.3 hrs

  20. The good old days vs. today Home Depot’s least-pricey standard-sized washer $827.58 (2011 dollars) $349 41.1 hrs 18.4 hrs

  21. The good old days vs. today 21.9 cu. ft., G.E. at Home Depot Sears*Best 22.1 cu. ft & no ice dispenser $1,124.10 $2,814.28 (2011 dollars) 59.2 hrs 139.6 hrs

  22. The good old days vs. today 5.1 cu. ft., Magic Chef 5.78 cu. ft. $299 $765.50 (2011 dollars) 15.7 hrs 38 hrs

  23. The good old days vs. today 10’ x 18’ 10’ x 14’ $661.82 (2011 dollars) $97 5.1 hrs 32.9 hrs

  24. The good old days vs. today $49.99 $140.68 (2011 dollars) 2.6 hrs 7 hrs

  25. The good old days vs. today Home Depot $2,069.27 (2011 dollars) $698 102.7 hrs 36.7 hrs

  26. The good old days vs. today Eureka $682.72 (2011 dollars) $65.99 33.9 hrs 3.5 hrs

  27. The good old days vs. today You don’t need this today because your cell phone does it X $94.58 (2011 dollars) at Amazon.com $4.50 0.24 hrs 4.7 hrs

  28. The good old days vs. today $29.99 at Ikea $70.32 (2011 dollars) 1.6 hrs 3.5 hrs

  29. The good old days vs. today Home Depot’s priciest $972.45 (2011 dollars) $899 47.3 hrs 68.8 hrs

  30. The good old days vs. today At Home Depot $199 10.5 hrs $868.97 (2011 dollars) 43.1 hrs

  31. The good old days vs. today $67 $248.30 (2011 dollars) (the bottom one) 12.3 hrs 3.5 hrs

  32. The good old days vs. today polyester/rayon at Target $29.99 1.6 hrs $41.35 (2011 dollars) 2.1 hrs

  33. The good old days vs. today Mac Pro Quad-Core 2.8 GHz, 3GB of RAM, 1 TB Hard Drive, SuperDrive, 3D graphics, mouse, keyboard Apple II 1 MHz, 4KB of RAM (1977) external floppy drive, 1 floppy disk (228 KB), 2D graphics, NO mouse $2499 $6955.20 (2011 dollars) $1738.80 per KB of RAM $0.0025 per KB of RAM $6955.20 per MHz $ 0.22 per MHz $30.51 per storage KB (floppy drive) $0.0000025 per storage KB (HD & SD) ≈ 345 hrs 132 hrs

  34. The good old days vs. today Is a non-supervisory worker better off making 4.87 per hour in 1975 or making $19 an hour in 2011? • Suppose you are right of high school, working in a non-supervisory position. • You have an empty apartment, and need one of each of the durable goods listed above with the exception of 4 tires, 4 chairs, and 10 pants

  35. The good old days vs. today • You also need to stock up on groceries (for the year). Assume you consume the following quantities a year:

  36. The good old days vs. today The total cost of the lower quality 1975 products in 2011 dollars is $33,019.01 1667 hours of work The total cost of higher quality 2011 products is $9598.91 505 hours of work Is Robert Reich correct? Was it better in the good old days?

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