And I bought a Volkswagen convertible in 1969 for $2399.
--
Martha
Good point. The U.S. Consumer price index has increased by a factor
of 3.4 since then, but even in 1998 dollars, the price you paid is
barely over $8000. In the case of cars, though, I think a good case
could be made that the product is much better (hence more complicated
and more expensive to make) today than in 1969. In the case of
upper-division physics textbooks, the product may also be better,
but only because of the work of the authors (who don't get paid
much). There don't seem to be any improvements in production or
other good reasons for publishers to raise prices. Nevertheless,
textbook prices have increased much faster than the cost of living.