November 30, 2020 (Monday)
While browsing the net I saw a Big Chief Tablet, never used, for sale for nearly $12.00. If the original price in 1937 was $0.10, normal inflation would make it cost $1.81 today. But its price is $12.00, because Big Chief tablets are not made anymore. The law of supply and demand takes over and cannot be denied.
In 1955 I visited a Ford dealership and on display was their latest model, selling for $1995.00. The inflation rate would raise the cost today to $19,383. But the hard fact is the car would cost much more than that today, for many reasons. The cost of emission controls not required in the past adds much to the cost of a car today. Air conditioning, so popular today, was not an option unless it was custom installed, which could be done at the factory if requested. Most cars are air conditioned today, adding hundreds to the cost. Automated robotic assembly of cars today no doubt raises the cost (but the construction is much better). The prices of new automobiles and trucks today have created a market for sophisticated finance options that enable a person to make affordable payments but doubtless most people never own their cars outright. People are getting used to the idea of paying $50,000 to $75,000 or $100,000 or more for new trucks and cars.
A bright spot in the automobile market today is the fact that cars last a lot longer than in the past. They are usually of better quality and much more dependable even many years after they were first produced. The “previously owned” vehicle is a giant seller today, to people who in previous years may have bought new.
When I was about ten years old, in 1941,
I found $0.19 in our front yard. When I showed it to my grandmother, she told me that I had found it so it was mine to use as I pleased. Instant riches! When people see a penny lying on the ground these days, they usually don’t bother to pick it up.
The pandemic is our primary concern, and we pray for the sick and their families; we pray for those who have lost loved ones to this vicious virus. The illness has far reaching effects upon others as well. The economic impact has been disastrous for many and is threatening others. Some folks are paying their bills but finding that harder each year. Others are very needy. Some have no money worries. But these are crazy times, with the economic impacts of the pandemic affecting so many people in various ways. Let us pray for each other. Let us help others as we are able. Let us pray that the needs of all will be supplied by the grace of God.