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To: John Vosilla who wrote (69868)	9/16/2006 1:02:39 PM
From: KyrosL	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

$156 million, not billion. But you should compare the land value today with undeveloped land away from developed cities. There was no guarantee 400 years ago that Manhattan would become NYC.

To: John Vosilla who wrote (69868)	9/16/2006 1:23:34 PM
From: Wyätt Gwyön	Respond to of 110194

well, Manhattan was a good investment--some would say a steal (literally), since the Indians didn't really have the concept of property rights and therefore didn't know what they were giving up. also, it wasn't purchased for money--it was purchased for trade goods. the goods then had a value of 60 guilders, which is put at $500-700 in today's USD currency. so buying the entire island of Manhattan for an hour's worth of time of a high-priced Manhattan lawyer or hooker. put another way, in today's Manhattan a single square foot of apartment space averages $1000, so the entire island was bought for less than one square foot of multitenant housing 380 years later, in constant dollars. obviously the Manhattan that was purchased in the early 17th century had none of the "improvements" of today's Manhattan, but still that is a pretty good chunk of land for a cheap price. the island had been purchased in 1626 by Peter Minuit, the third director of New Netherland from the native Lenapes for 60 guilders worth of trade goods (translated to about $24, which according to the Oregon State University website's estimated conversion factors, is about the equivalent of $500-$700 American in today's currency[3]. en.wikipedia.org

To: John Vosilla who wrote (69868)	9/17/2006 1:53:02 AM
From: benwood	Respond to of 110194

I hope I live long enough to see the "Manhattan" example die away. A lot of work on a single data point referencing a the value to some lost culture whose people lived in the woods. Their most advanced technological weapon had had a range of about 30 yards. The beads and trinkets, often estimated to be worth about $24 or some such amount, wasn't even to "own" Manhattan, since that was a non-existent concept to those natives (e.g. there was no town hall with a deed to transfer), but rather, to let those Dutch poke their flag in the ground and start to make a royal mess of things. Little did those poor natives know what they unwittingly unleashed.