Inflation

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Yellow Fang

Legendary Member
Location
Reading
I am reading Get Carter, originally titled Jack's Return Home by Ted Lewis, published in 1970. In it, Jack buys a pint of beer for 1'10 (iirc). That's 22/240 pounds, approx 9p. Today a pint of beer costs about £3-60 say, so that's 40x as much. Jack rents a room in a cheap B&B over a weekend for 50 shillings, which was £2-50. I suppose it would be £100 these days, maybe. So that's 40x as much too.

In Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, published about 1979, Ford Prefect bought six pints of beer and, I think, four packets of crisps and still had change from £5. So say that's £4 for the beer. That means a pint of beer cost 67p.

Crikey, no wonder everyone complained about the prices and went on strike for more pay.
 

lazyfatgit

Guest
Location
Lawrence, NSW
In comparison the price of pumps has come down. I remember scrimping and saving to buy an aluminium frame pump which got bashed beyond repair when i fell off.
You can get a decent pump for less now.
 

mustang1

Legendary Member
Location
London, UK
Around 1987 a Golf GTI costs £12k. Today they start around £25k.

In the same year, a 911 cost £37k plus a couple of options, say £39k. Today a 911 starts at around £80k with an option or two.

The other day I sat in a Yaris (just to pass the time) and the sales lady asked if I needed some help ."how much is this?" I enquired. £18k. It was the top model but I recall when they first came out and were only around £5k for the base model.
 

matiz

Guru
Location
weymouth
In 72 it cost me 50p to see Hawkwind at the civic hall and 5Op to watch the Wolves at the Molineux about half hours wages for each event ,last week the footy cost £37 to watch Wolves v Villa and it's not even premier league .
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
I remember inflation was particularly rampant in the seventies hitting 25% annually in one year. Oil prices tripled which helped push it higher. The unions were powerful then with the miners demanding a 30% rise in wages leading to strikes and power cuts. All in all it was rather scary.
 
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postman

Squire
Location
,Leeds
Due to inactivity my waist has inflated to 40".
 

twentysix by twentyfive

Clinging on tightly
Location
Over the Hill
I used to run my tyres at 120psi, I now run them at 15psi on my Surly ECR. That’s deflation.
These are still cheap

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Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
For my first mortgage I was paying interest at 16.5%.
Having said that, I could only see it going down in the future, so as uncomfortable as it was, when the rate did fall, that freed up money to pay off the capital.
 
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