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That seems like a strange way to look at it. If we grant that part of the appeal of a Rolex is that it is out of reach of most people, $1700, adjusted for infla
by jdpedrie 8y ago
That seems like a strange way to look at it. If we grant that part of the appeal of a Rolex is that it is out of reach of most people, $1700, adjusted for inflation, was out of reach 50 years ago. Today, a luxury good of that price is well within reach for a middle-to-upper-middle class person who cares to save for a little while. If Rolex raised their price that much to keep it too expensive for the middle class, that seems to imply a greatly increased standard of living for everyone.
- 0x8BADF00D 8y ago> If Rolex raised their price that much to keep it too expensive for the middle class, that seems to imply a greatly increased standard of living for everyone. But that’s precisely it. The standard of living hasn’t gone up. Only the nominal price of money.
- jahewson 8y agoThe standard of living has gone up since 1970. But it pretty much leveled out by the 1980’s. So yes, mostly.
- epicureanideal 8y agoI don't know... my anecdotal experience is that the 1980s were noticeably more dreary than the 90s. And although most of the gains in quality of life since then have been in tech, they've been amazing gains. Flat screen TVs, powerful laptops, cellular phones, smart phones... I think what leveled out was the amount and quality of housing and education, which of course are large expenses.