[quote=kev374]yes, I understand the traditional relationships – that the buying power is decreased.

However, I wanted to determine the value of the currency as how much effort it would take to obtain that money…which is how that $1000 is view as in the effort to obtain it.

I am trying to see if the money would have the same perception of value by people… in the context of how hard it is to obtain it.

If it took you 8 hrs of sweat to obtain $10 today and 5 years from now it is the same then how would you value $10? Regardless of how much things cost.

Yes, if we earned more and things cost more then something of a fixed value, that $10 would be less significant. But what if income was constant.[/quote]

Your question is a bit naive, so let’s do a thought experiment ..

In 1975, Mr. Construction boss made 30K per year in the construction business … about $15 per hour. Mom stays home. They live in a large ranch house with 7 children. They were able to feed and clothe a large family, send to private school and send 6 of the 7 went to college, and two to grad school.

Fast forward to 2008. Joe Dropout has a laborer job in the construction business making $15 per hour. He spends 45% of his income to rent a 2-BR apartment for his wife and baby. He relies on food stamps to buy milk and cannot afford insurance.

In both cases the 8 hours of labor is valued the same in dollar terms. The only difference is inflation.