3 ms·
That was before inflation. Using https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL , it looks like the CPI was 78 in Janu
by maxlybbert 9y ago
That was before inflation. Using https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL , it looks like the CPI was 78 in January 1980, and 244.456 in February 2017 (the most recent data currently available). Meaning that $1 from 1980 would buy as much as $3.13 last February, and $40,000 in 1980 would be equivalent to $125,362 in February. Perhaps not enough for two homes and a boat, but pretty good income in most of the US.
Then again, there are plenty of caveats: the CPI overstates inflation, there are things on the market today that no amount of money could have bought in 1980, etc.