4 ms·

Both are valid, depending on perspective. The joy of English.

by win311fwg 7mo ago

silisili 7mo ago
I'm having trouble coming up with a valid use case of the way it's written, mind sharing?
- phil21 7mo ago
  "worth" can have two meanings in this context. $100 from 1917 can be worth exactly $100 today. Or it can be worth what you can buy with it. Some folks will see a $100 bill from the era and see an old $100 bill. Some folks will imagine what that $100 took to save back then, and what it bought. FWIW my brain automatically went with "the goods that can be bought with $100" - such as what I could buy in a grocery store today with $100 would be about what I could buy with $3 back then. I never considered the other reading until this thread. It was obvious to me the author meant "you can buy 97% less stuff today with the same $100".
  - stavros 7mo ago
    I don't understand how you mean. They say $100 back then, in what meaning is a $100 bill back then worth the same as having $3 today?
    - krackers 7mo ago
      I think it's used to convey that the buying power has been reduced. If you have a $100 basket of goods (as measured in 1914 dollars), $100 in 1914 allows you to buy 1 basket of goods. Due to the devaluation, today spending $100 would only give you a $3.05 basket of goods (as measured in 1914 dollars). It's a bit of an odd comparison since you're using two different units for dollars to compare the basket vs purchasing dollar. The clearer way to say it is that today's $100 basket of goods is equivalent to $3.95 basket of goods of 1914.
gwbas1c 7mo ago
No, it's very clearly a typo and doesn't depend on perspective. English isn't that ambiguous.
- win311fwg 7mo ago
  It's clearly not. Think about it: - If you had $100 in 1914, it is worth $3.05 today. Inflation erodes value; amount goes down. - But it is also true that if you had $3.05 in 1914 that it is worth $100 today. Inflation sees price rise; amount goes up. - And it is even true that if you had $100 in 1914 that it is worth $100 today. Inflation does not affect face value; amount stays the same.

Both are valid, depending on perspective. The joy of English.

silisili 7mo ago

I'm having trouble coming up with a valid use case of the way it's written, mind sharing?

phil21 7mo ago
"worth" can have two meanings in this context. $100 from 1917 can be worth exactly $100 today. Or it can be worth what you can buy with it. Some folks will see a $100 bill from the era and see an old $100 bill. Some folks will imagine what that $100 took to save back then, and what it bought. FWIW my brain automatically went with "the goods that can be bought with $100" - such as what I could buy in a grocery store today with $100 would be about what I could buy with $3 back then. I never considered the other reading until this thread. It was obvious to me the author meant "you can buy 97% less stuff today with the same $100".
- stavros 7mo ago
  I don't understand how you mean. They say $100 back then, in what meaning is a $100 bill back then worth the same as having $3 today?
  - krackers 7mo ago
    I think it's used to convey that the buying power has been reduced. If you have a $100 basket of goods (as measured in 1914 dollars), $100 in 1914 allows you to buy 1 basket of goods. Due to the devaluation, today spending $100 would only give you a $3.05 basket of goods (as measured in 1914 dollars). It's a bit of an odd comparison since you're using two different units for dollars to compare the basket vs purchasing dollar. The clearer way to say it is that today's $100 basket of goods is equivalent to $3.95 basket of goods of 1914.

gwbas1c 7mo ago

No, it's very clearly a typo and doesn't depend on perspective. English isn't that ambiguous.

win311fwg 7mo ago
It's clearly not. Think about it: - If you had $100 in 1914, it is worth $3.05 today. Inflation erodes value; amount goes down. - But it is also true that if you had $3.05 in 1914 that it is worth $100 today. Inflation sees price rise; amount goes up. - And it is even true that if you had $100 in 1914 that it is worth $100 today. Inflation does not affect face value; amount stays the same.