4 ms·

Inflation doubles every 30 years right? So 250k in 1999, is almost 500k in 2029. 500k shouldnt seem outlandish, if 250k wasnt. (I believe 1999-2025 is ~92% so

• mindcrime 2y ago
  Inflation doubles every 30 years right? Is that the rule of thumb? I never knew. I guess you only really notice it big-time on large-ticket items that are purchased infrequently like fire trucks. Maybe a car or something, but I never buy brand new cars, so that's probably another reason I haven't been in tune with the degree of inflation.
  • SR2Z 2y ago
    2.5% inflation over 30 years gets you that number. Whether or not that's a good rule of thumb depends on how much you believe in putting economists and "neoliberals" in charge :)
    • euroderf 2y ago
      2.5% seems like a typical goal for monetary policy.
      • SR2Z 2y ago
        Yes. My point is that the monetary policy that so far has worked out pretty well is gonna get thrown out the window when JPow leaves/is fired.
    • deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  • Terr_ 2y ago
    The historical-average may not be worth internalizing now, given current events. Namely, a new Republican administration dropping chaos-bombs on the US economy and trying to seize direct control of the banking-infrastructure, which in turn would put Trump's little hands onto the levers for interest-rates.
  • basch 2y ago
    We can look and check. (The 70s throw it off a bit.) These are all 11 or 31 year periods. 1995-2005 $2.10 1965-1995 $4.84 1935-1965 $2.30 1985-2015 $2.20 1980-1990 $1.59 1970-1980 $2.12 1960-1970 $1.31
• Hojojo 2y ago
  Probably important to know what percentage that fire truck is of the overall fire department's budget. Has that budget increased with inflation at a comparable amount?
  • nickff 2y ago
    Much more in most areas; fire department employees are now the best-paid government employees in many (if not most) jurisdictions.
    • mrguyorama 2y ago
      65% of American Firefighters are volunteer. Funding for Firefighters in the US is usually on the county level. The vast majority of counties in the US are poor as dirt, and can't pay for anything. Don't ever use an "average" to look at the US. From education to sewers to courts to elections to the DMV to land zoning, the US is 50 different countries. They do wildly different things, have wildly different results, and generally are hard to compare. Then add the Rural/Urban divide and things become even more bleak. Rural fire departments are usually partially or mostly volunteer forces. So while Urban fire departments probably pay alright (ignoring that the job is "Run into that burning building and maybe die"), do not mistake that for "Firefighters (in general) get paid well"
      • nickff 2y ago
        I never used an average.
• dylan604 2y ago
  okay, but the example given is that the new trucks are double the doubling.
  • vasco 2y ago
    > any normal fire engine costing more than $1,000,000 just leaves me gob-smacked. Even $500,000 would seem outlandish to me No, they said 500k would also be outlandish. But the commenter correctly caught that 500k would in fact be exactly the same price, inflation adjusted. This makes a big difference.