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We’ve been talking about inflation lately. And by “lately,” I mean since 1913 when the U.S. started tracking the Consumer Price Index.
Older generations revel in telling us that a dozen eggs used to cost 37 cents. A loaf of bread was barely a nickel. An original 57 Chevy only set you back $2,400. But I remind my parents their first cell phone was more expensive than my current superior device — and mine doesn’t require its own duffel bag carrying case.
These financial anecdotes from elders can seem tiresome and irrelevant, but they force them on us anyway. I’m not immune to the allure of spewing tales of economic volatility, but surely the fiscal fables of my youth are far more fascinating. As my sister says when sharing life lessons with her children, “Let me tell you a story about the 90s...”
In college (1993-1998) I enjoyed a Tuesday special at a well-known fast-food joint. Three cheeseburgers for $1.00. ONE. DOLLAR. You can barely purchase a stamp for $1.00 today (although, why are you still mailing things?). Even as a broke college kid, I thought three burgers for $1.00 was an unsustainable offer. I recall thinking, “I should write a Vital essay about this in 30 years.”
I frequented a movie theater in the early 90s where I could purchase a ticket, pop, and popcorn and get change back from a five-dollar bill. These movies weren’t the streaming garbage we have today. I’m talking about the finest films the entertainment industry has ever created: Dances with Wolves, Forrest Gump, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. It was the golden age of affordable cinema.
But not everything was a bargain “back in my day.”
In 1992, I invested in a half-dozen roses for a girlfriend-to-be that turned out not to be. The cost: $27.30. Perhaps there was a nationwide rose shortage or an unfortunate floral billing error. The exorbitant cost stung almost as much as the rejection itself. Had I saved that money a few years, it could have yielded 81+ Tuesday hamburgers.
Technology cost trends defy the typical inflationary behavior of other goods. Early adopters find high costs despite low functionality. My first computer (1996) barely met the threshold of “low functionality.” It cost $2,200. No, it wasn’t dipped in gold. My coffee pot has more computing power than that first PC.
Inflation and purchasing volatility are not a new phenomenon. Whether the economy was better or worse is irrelevant. Yes, most items were much less expensive, but some were shockingly more.
The important thing is that we remember the minutiae of our own experiences so we can share those excruciatingly mundane details with future generations. Will our stories teach them valuable lessons? Will they appreciate our personal history with market fluctuations? Will they savor our insights when we regurgitate the same tales over and over again? No. But we must tell them anyway. Reminiscing about the price of things “back in my day” is a time-honored tradition as vital as the Consumer Price Index itself.
