Yesterday I posted on the increasing affordability of Consumer goods over the years. Mark Perry has taken the cost of a product at a point in the past and divided that by the average hourly manufacturing wage at that time to determine how many hours it would take to earn enough to buy the product. Then he does the same calculation for the product today. Here are his findings for three more consumer goods:
VCR (Source)
Sears VCR in 1981: 187.3 hours of work (23.4 days or 4.7 weeks)
Sears VCR/DVD combo in 2009: 3.8 hours of work
Sears VCR/DVD combo in 2009: 3.8 hours of work
Television (Source)
Sears 19-inch portable TV in 1981: 71.3 hours of work (9 days)
Sears 20-inch TV in 2009: 9.2 hours of work
Sears 20-inch TV in 2009: 9.2 hours of work
Calculator (Source)
Rechargeable scientific calculator from Wards in 1975: 12.5 hours of work (1.5 days)
HP 10s Scientific Calculator in 2009: .54 hours of work (33 minutes)
HP 10s Scientific Calculator in 2009: .54 hours of work (33 minutes)
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