The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 11, March 18, 2007, Article 16

MORE SOURCES FOR HISTORICAL CONSUMER PRICES 

Regarding web sites for historical pricing information, Tom DeLorey 
suggests westegg.com/inflation. 

The web site states: "The following form adjusts any given amount of 
money for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800 
to 2006. 

"The pre-1975 data are the Consumer Price Index statistics from 
Historical Statistics of the United States (USGPO, 1975). All data 
since then are from the annual Statistical Abstracts of the United 
States."

SOURCE FOR HISTORICAL CONSUMER PRICES
esylum_v10n10a21.html

Patrick MacAuley writes: "For the Bicentennial, the U.S. Department 
of Commerce published a magnificent 2-volume HISTORICAL STATISTICS OF 
THE UNITED STATES Colonial Times to 1970. Every historian or economist 
should have this compendium in their library. It includes consumer 
price indices back to 1820, which can be spliced with the latest 
Consumer Price Index data available on-line to provide an estimate of 
the change in U.S. consumer prices between any two years from 1820 
to 2006. 

"I used this approach to check Henk Groenendijk's statement that a 
half-cent in 1857 had more purchasing power than a dime had in January 
2007, and he was statistically correct. However, the world has changed 
so much since 1857 that comparisons are pretty fuzzy. For example, 
the price of gasoline was not a cost-of-living factor in 1857, while 
horse-feed prices aren't much of a factor in 2007."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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