Good News in one chart

The term “a hard day’s work” has many definitions and usages. It also has resonance, as the above table indicates. For many Americans a day’s labor was a significantly different reality just one century ago.

Today, thanks to incredible advancements in farming, technology, and trade, we can enjoy a much wider variety of food at a much lower adjusted cost. These are huge and commendable strides.

To help visualize the authors of this study (Marian Tupy and Gail Pooley) looked at the price of stereotypical basket of 42 food items, and here are the highlights of their findings:

What were the results?

• The price in time (inflation adjusted price divided by nominal hourly wage) of our basket of commodities fell from 27.26 hours of work to 3.85!

• IOW, given the same amount of work, a production worker could buy 11.73 times the amount of groceries in 2019 compared to 1919

• Viewed holistically, a production worker over the years has seen his/her purchasing power double every 28 years.

We have made huge strides! The average American worker can now buy a basket of groceries in just a few hours, compared to a whole day in 1919. That's a massive improvement!

So, the next time you're in a discussion that touches on inflation or current prices, just take a deep breath and appreciate how far we've come.