[meteorite-list] Emil Cohen's Market Trends of 1899 - Cohen'sremarks & plausibility of conversion

From: joseph_town_at_att.net <joseph_town_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 14 02:27:39 2005
Message-ID: <041420050627.15331.425E0D6200089EAD00003BE321602807410299019BA1089F0A9C0106_at_att.net>

Michael,

Value is a state of mind.

Bill


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Michael L Blood <mlblood_at_cox.net>
> Interesting,
> But many argue:
> 1) ALL approaches to the "value" of money (and its changes) are
> theoretical and/or
> 2) The value of gold has never changed. The fluctuation relative to
> any given currency reflects ONLY the fluctuation of "value" of said
> currency.
> Personally, I believe there is a good deal of truth in statement
> #1, and close to absolute truth in statement #2. I would add that
> ALL currency is "monopoly money" with absolutely no value, whatsoever,
> except as agreed upon by its users. This is transparent in terms of the
> international banking group that "sets" relative currency values on a
> daily basis.
> Right now, money has an exceptionally high "value" relative to
> meteorites. But, like the stock market, realty market and such, ironically,
> people buy much less when prices are down and much more when prices
> are up (except the wealthy, of course). Some interesting references to this
> phenomenon can be found in RICH DAD, POOR DAD.
> Best wishes, Michael
>
> on 4/13/05 3:18 PM, Sterling K. Webb at kelly_at_bhil.com wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > OK, it's Off Topic...
> > Historically, the use of gold by many nations to back their currency results
> > in a flat value for currencies through long periods of time, since it is in
> > the
> > interests of governments to maintain a stable value for gold. The original
> > and
> > XIXth century U. S. dollar was backed by the Spanish dollar. (Yes, the Spanish
> > dollar, which was gold backed.)
> > The U. S. used the gold standard for its currency beginning in 1900, at a
> > value of $20 per ounce. In 1935, in the Depression, the dollar was devalued
> > by
> > 41%, by resetting legal price of gold to $35 per ounce. After World War II,
> > the
> > Bretton Woods Agreement essentially tied all the world's currencies to the U.
> > S.
> > dollar and its fixed gold price.
> > In the U. S., the value of gold was set by law until 1968, so there were no
> > "market" fluctuations until the 1970's. By 1980, the "price" of gold was $900
> > per ounce! After that wild ride, the price of gold declined to less than half
> > its peak value and the fluctuations have been mild ever since.
> > These changes make a comparison by gold values complicated. Here's a table
> > of the value of the U. S. dollar:
> >
> > Historical Value of the U.S. Dollar
> > -----------------------------------
> > What one dollar was worth
> > in constant 1991 dollars:
> >
> > 1820-1850 $13.28
> > 1850-1875 $13.14
> > 1875-1900 $14.85
> > 1900-1925 $11.38
> > 1935 $9.91
> > 1945 $7.56
> > 1965 $4.31
> > 1975 $2.35
> > 1985 $1.26
> > 1991 $1.00
> > (compiled by the U. S. Department of Labor Statistics
> > and the Bureau of Living Conditions Statistics)
> >
> > What's interesting is that the purchasing power of the dollar is essentially
> > flat throughout the period 1800 to 1900. We accept inflation today as a
> > natural
> > and inevitable minor evil, but for 72 years of the XIXth century (excepting
> > only
> > the U.S. Civil War and the Crisis of 1896-98), there was no inflation!
> > In effect, inflation has become the mechanism by which price values change
> > and adjust.
> >
> > An excellent article on the complications of calculating the historical
> > value of money can be found here:
> > <http://www.sls.lib.il.us/reference/por/features/98/money.html>
> >
> > A full table of annual dollar values from 1970 can be found here:
> > <http://www.allmeasures.com/table.asp?money=on&Submit=Conversion+Table>
> >
> >
> > Sterling K. Webb
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > Martin Altmann wrote:
> >
> >> Plausibility of the conversion:
> >>
> >> As told with exchanging the 1899 german Mark (Goldmark) into USD of our
> >> days, I had to use as a vehicle the gold price of then and today. - with
> >> more modern price lists, I guess, one simply could use the known inflation
> >> rates.
> >> The problem with my exchange is, that we don't know the effective purchase
> >> power of gold in 1899.
> >> Hencefore for testing, how realistic the result 1Mark 1899 = 4.61$ 2004 is,
> >> here some prices and figures from the end of 19th century:
> >>
> >> 3 eggs costed in 1900 0.10Mark ~ 0.46 today's $
> >> 1 liter beer 0.24Mark ~ 1.10 $.
> >> 1 liter milk 0.20Mark ~ 0.92$
> >> 1kg sugar 0.65Mark ~ 3$
> >> 50kg potatos 1.75Mark ~ 8$
> >> 1kg porc meat 1.5Mark ~ 6,9$
> >> 1kg butter 1.86Mark ~ 8.5$
> >> 1kg coffee 4Mark ~ 18.5$
> >>
> >> A miner in 1900 earned per day 3Mark ~ 13.8$
> >> A dock worker (at this time already known to be paid below the minimum
> >> living wage) got 61Mark per month ~ 280$
> >> An assistant teacher 175Mark/month ~ 800$
> >> A regular teacher 125
> >> Bismarck had a basic salary of 4000Mark/month ~ 18.500$ (our actual
> >> chancellor Schroeder get's 14.800Euro ~ 19.200$)
> >>
> >> 6 nights in a good hotel 20Marks ~ 92$
> >> 1 lunch in a restaurant (without drinks) 2Marks ~ 9.2$
> >> The visit of the doctor coming from 4km away: ~14$
> >> Issuing a prescription for a medicament: 0.5Mark ~2.3$
> >> 1 made-to-measure suit 65Mark ~ 300$
> >>
> >> Wartburg-automobile 1899 (1.75HP) 3500Mark ~ 16.000$
> >> Benz Dos-à-Dos automobile (5HP) 4500Mark ~ 20.700$
> >> Benz Spider 1902 (15HP) 8500Mark ~ 39.200$
> >>
> >> (a 3rd class one-way-ticket for the Titanic was in 1912 155Mark ~ 715$)
> >>
> >> and so on....
> >> Thus, I think, that the results of the conversion sound not too unrealistic
> >> and the resulting meteorite prices give at least the right region.
> >>
> >> Buckleboo!
> >> Martin
> >>
> >> PS: And now I will hear some discussions! Were the USA the Maghreb of the
> >> 19th century? Were the Canadians already strange then? Were Mocs and Pultusk
> >> the Gao of 1899? Should we have more respect for Campo?........
> >>
> >> _____________________________________________
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________
> > Meteorite-list mailing list
> > Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>
> --
> "You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are."
> -Herb Cohen
> --
> If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Thu 14 Apr 2005 02:27:48 AM PDT