I was just thinking about hedonic pricing. My 2003 Camry LE cost about nine times as much as my father's 1965 basic Plymouth slant 6. I am willing to believe that my car is at least twice as good as that Plymouth, which was a very good car but which came with a straight shift, no air conditioning, no radio, no clock, no power windows, no air bags, and no anything else. But that still means 350% inflation in the car price since 1965, which I think is about level with the CPI over that period, with 100 1965 dollars worth about $450 today.
Or so I thought. This inflation calculator says that if I consider my present car to be worth $4,000 in 1965 dollars, it would take over $23,365 to buy the same car in 2003, and I got my car for about $18,000. So maybe we ought to allow some hedonic adjustments. Which was not the conclusion I thought I was going to reach.
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