Get the Facts

Tempers are running high over a number of things right now. One of the things I learned a long time ago was to get the facts before making up my mind.

When I was active in the League of Women Voters I learned that serious matters had to be seriously studied.

The statistics page in the current Newsweek has some interesting numbers about prices. Have they soared - or not. Well, yes and no.

Take postage stamps. Don't you hate paying 44 cents for a stamp? Well, in 1900 a stamp costs 2 cents. But with inflation factored in the current price is a 17% decrease.

The average airline ticket from 1931 to now is a 91% decrease.

The president's salary from 1901 to now is a 69% decrease.

Of course there are lots of increases. The average movie ticket is a 134% increase from 1948.
The average home price has increased 100 % since 1963 (but I don't think that holds true for my home right now.)

By far the greatest increase listed in Newsweek is for Major League Baseball players. In 1900 it was $2,200. In today's dollars that's $58,000. The average salary today is $2,996,106. That's a whopping 5,066% increase.

Again, the reminder to me is: Get the facts before you go crazy.


***