By Patrick Barron
One way to compare prices of similar commodities and services over long periods of time is to convert the nominal prices to ounces of gold.
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By Patrick Barron
One way to compare prices of similar commodities and services over long periods of time is to convert the nominal prices to ounces of gold.
I tell my mom if she would have bought gold and not paid into social security she would be living it up in retirement hahah. But back then how would a working class American know to buy gold.
Also, payroll taxes aren't exactly optional.
True. I was thinking doing the equivalent match of post tax earnings. I wonder what the payroll tax was back in her prime years (70s to the 90s)
your mom could have purchased gold or gold miners etf
How? ETFs are relatively new. They came out in like the late 90s 2000s right?
Mutual funds were all the rage in the 80s and 90s
she could have purchased these etf in her non prime years
p.s. most of warren buffett's net worth accrued after he turned 65
Yeah true but she would really need to be in the know. I am willing to bet 70% of American women have no idea what an ETF is
Personally I think silver makes more sense. It was after all the coins that we were transacting in up until 1965....
Using his own example seems to prove that. $1 in silver quarters contained .835 oz/silver, so $6 was 5 oz / silver. At $80/oz thats a $400 battery..
That is much more in-line with current prices, rather than the .17 oz Gold battery metric ($780).
Does silver do as well as gold going further back?
I know people like to point out how a fancy Roman toga cost about the same in gold terms as a nice men's suit today.
Well, it becomes hard to normalize because the same name for certain coins was used for centuries but the gov kept changing the silver content. Case in point the Denarius in ancient rome, it started at a 1/8th of an ounce of 95% purity and by the 300s AD same coin was now 1/10th of an ounce of 5% purity.
Luckily there are price list from the 300's (Diocletian mandated price fixing, so the prices were officially recorded).
https://imperiumromanum.pl/en/roman-economy/roman-goods-prices/
These prices seem fairly reasonable converting to modern silver equivalent. (1/10th of an ounce at 5% purity is means there was roughly 200 denarius to the ounce).
Sabine wine – 30 denarii for 0.5 liters (modern equiv $12.75 for bottle of wine)
Wheat beer – 4 denarii for 0.5 liters (modern equiv $1.75 for a bottle beer)
Extra virgin olive oil, first quality – 40 denarii for 0.5 liters ($17 bottle)
Beef – 8 denarii for about 300 g ($3.40 for 10 ounces of beef)
The issue with Gold is that no day to day items were ever priced in gold....pretty much silver has been the "daily market" currency for most of history. Gold was for large purchases only....as they used to say:
"Copper is the money of the pauper, Silver of gentlemen, and Gold of Kings"
Did you study classics in college?
Nope, actually got into it from HBO Rome series... haha, and then started reading more about it.
That was a great show
Really was....was originally meant to be 4 or 5 seasons. Was going to end with the rise of Christ in Judea.... with the Roman governor Pontius Pilate trying to arbitrate between the Jewish factions.
Sadly they got word that it was going to be cancelled when filming of 2nd season began...thats why it feels so disjointed towards the end.
Would've been incredible if HBO would've funded the whole original concept. It was one of the first big budget historical dramas for HBO and I think they got cold feet over the cost. Curiously, they later hit gold with Game of Thrones, but I always preferred Rome.
AIPAC and ADL pressured HBO to cancel
fucking Shylocks
did you hear, VDH had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on Dec 30 at stanford medical hospital?
VDH is an amazing classicist, military historian, political historian and california historian (his familyl purchased their homestead in Selma, CA in 1870)
Oh I hadn't heard about his surgery. I hope his is doing good...I always like listening to VDH!
Victor Davis Hanson is recovering after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, according to a recent update shared by Condoleezza Rice on January 3, 2026.
In his statement, Hanson confirmed he had the surgery at Stanford Medical Center and expressed optimism about his recovery, saying, “I’m doing well and hopeful as I move forward”.
He revealed that his diagnosis followed a nine-month struggle during which his condition—rare for a nonsmoker and nondrinker—was difficult to identify.
Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and prominent conservative commentator, had previously announced the upcoming operation on his podcast, noting he would take a break from hosting during his recovery
you sound like William Jennings Bryan
big mac index rules!