4 ms·

$50k in 2016 dollars.

by rendaw 9mo ago

zamadatix 9mo ago
You're correct, but for some reason heavily downed at the moment (Edit: no longer the case!). Relevant excerpt backing this up: > the sugar industry paid the Harvard scientists the equivalent of $50,000 in 2016 dollars I.e. it was something more like 6k-7k in terms of dollars at the time of payment.
- citizenpaul 9mo ago
  Did you know the average bribe accepted for a politician is something like 5K (This was from a few years back so probably higher now). So yeah this is totally within bribe limits. As a unrelated note it really is depressing to think about how easy it is to buy off politicians and how much money the bribers have vs an average person.
- jayers 9mo ago
  Average home price in the late 60s was 25k so even if it is equivalent to $50k in 2016 dollars, 25k could still get you further than today in some specific areas.
  - deleted 9mo ago
    [deleted]
  - zamadatix 9mo ago
    Some clarification as the actual numbers and the random 25k number keep getting compared to the wrong contexts in this chain (it originally arose as a misunderstanding that the 50k was already in terms of 2016 dollars instead of the original 1960s payment https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=CodeWriter23 https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=CodeWriter23): ~$6,000-$7,000 is the amount the researchers were paid off with in the mid 60s. This is roughly equivalent to ~$50,000 in 2016 when using CPI-U figures. $25,000 in the mid 60s would be equivalent to ~$193,000 by the same measure, and does not relate to $50,000 in 2016 in any way. But your core point that the items in the CPI-U basket do not adjust equally, which is why it's a basket in the first place. Median housing price in 2016 was ~$300,000, so ~$193,000 is a bit of variance... but not nearly as much as mixing the numbers from the different comparisons made it sound.
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
CodeWriter23 9mo ago
Ah missed that.
overgard 9mo ago
$25,000 in 1969 has the same buying power as approximately $220,000 to $226,000 today In terms of 2016, from gemini: > In 2016, $25,000 from 1969 was worth approximately $163,490. > Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), $1 in 1969 had the same purchasing power as $6.54 in 2016. This represents a total inflation increase of roughly 554% over that 47-year period
- zamadatix 9mo ago
  People are just downvoting you rather than discussing for some reason. It drives me bonkers when I see that happen here... :). rendaw was pointing out the $50k in the article & parent comment was in terms of 2016 dollars, not that the mid 60s $25k in CodeWrite23's comment converts to $50k in 2016. I.e. that the researchers would not be getting anything close to a house + charger + spare change for just half the $50k amount. They got more like $6k-$7k at time of payment in the mid 60s. Which is still a good chunk of change for the time... just not the amounts it was made to sound.

$50k in 2016 dollars.

by rendaw 9mo ago

$50k in 2016 dollars.

You're correct, but for some reason heavily downed at the moment (Edit: no longer the case!). Relevant excerpt backing this up: > the sugar industry paid the Harvard scientists the equivalent of $50,000 in 2016 dollars I.e. it was something more like 6k-7k in terms of dollars at the time of payment.

citizenpaul 9mo ago
Did you know the average bribe accepted for a politician is something like 5K (This was from a few years back so probably higher now). So yeah this is totally within bribe limits. As a unrelated note it really is depressing to think about how easy it is to buy off politicians and how much money the bribers have vs an average person.
jayers 9mo ago
Average home price in the late 60s was 25k so even if it is equivalent to $50k in 2016 dollars, 25k could still get you further than today in some specific areas.
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
- zamadatix 9mo ago
  Some clarification as the actual numbers and the random 25k number keep getting compared to the wrong contexts in this chain (it originally arose as a misunderstanding that the 50k was already in terms of 2016 dollars instead of the original 1960s payment https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=CodeWriter23 https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=CodeWriter23): ~$6,000-$7,000 is the amount the researchers were paid off with in the mid 60s. This is roughly equivalent to ~$50,000 in 2016 when using CPI-U figures. $25,000 in the mid 60s would be equivalent to ~$193,000 by the same measure, and does not relate to $50,000 in 2016 in any way. But your core point that the items in the CPI-U basket do not adjust equally, which is why it's a basket in the first place. Median housing price in 2016 was ~$300,000, so ~$193,000 is a bit of variance... but not nearly as much as mixing the numbers from the different comparisons made it sound.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

CodeWriter23 9mo ago

Ah missed that.

overgard 9mo ago

$25,000 in 1969 has the same buying power as approximately $220,000 to $226,000 today In terms of 2016, from gemini: > In 2016, $25,000 from 1969 was worth approximately $163,490. > Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), $1 in 1969 had the same purchasing power as $6.54 in 2016. This represents a total inflation increase of roughly 554% over that 47-year period

zamadatix 9mo ago
People are just downvoting you rather than discussing for some reason. It drives me bonkers when I see that happen here... :). rendaw was pointing out the $50k in the article & parent comment was in terms of 2016 dollars, not that the mid 60s $25k in CodeWrite23's comment converts to $50k in 2016. I.e. that the researchers would not be getting anything close to a house + charger + spare change for just half the $50k amount. They got more like $6k-$7k at time of payment in the mid 60s. Which is still a good chunk of change for the time... just not the amounts it was made to sound.