Last week, New York Magazine celebrated their 40th anniversary. My favorite feature in the magazine was a page comparing prices of some quintessential New York items, from 1968 when the magazine was founded to today. What's interesting is that some things have gone up less than overall inflation, while others have increased far more than that.
By my calculations, the effect of inflation makes something cost 6 times more today than it did in 1968. I took New York magazine's prices and figured out the increase factor and sorted them below-- those in green are a relative bargain today, as they have gone up less than the rate of inflation. Those in red have gone up more than the rate of inflation. Kind of gives you a new perspective on what's expensive and what's a bargain!
| Increase Factor | Price Today | |
| Movie Ticket | 3.2 | $12.00 |
| 1lb Zabar's Nova Scotia Smoked Salmon | 3.4 | $34.00 |
| Lombardi's Large Cheese Pizza | 4.3 | $19.50 |
| Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate | 4.8 | $8.50 |
| Burger at 21 Club | 6 | $30.00 |
| Village Vanguard Cover Charge | 7.1 | $25.00 |
| Taxi fare for 2.5-mile Ride | 7.5 | $11.14 |
| Knish at Yonah Schimmel | 8.6 | $3.00 |
| Subway Fare | 10 | $2.00 |
| Financial District Shoe Shine | 12 | $3.00 |
| Martini at Algonquin Hotel | 14.4 | $18.00 |
| New York Times | 15 | $1.50 |
| MOMA Admission | 16 | $20.00 |
| NYU Undergrad Tuition | 17.8 | $37,372.00 |
| Broadway Show Ticket | 18.2 | $113.18 |
| Triborough Bridge Toll | 20 | $5.00 |
| Pack of Marlboros | 25.7 | $9.00 |
| 1 Ounce Marijuana | 26.6 | $400.00 |
| Room at Waldorf-Astoria | 30.3 | $559.00 |
| Box Seat at Yankee Stadium | 62.5 | $250.00 |
3 comments:
Umm, where did you get the "quote" on an ounce of MJ?
all I can see you doing is going around to your street corner and saying hey man.. LOL!
Very big different old price and new price since 4 decades ago.
tolls, what a load of crap. tolls are supposed to be to pay for the project, but i haven't seen anywhere where they have stopped taking tolls long after the cash cow has paid for the original project.
the only problem I see is that you haven't (or maybe you have) calculated costs from 40 years ago in today's dollars. that is the true indicator of the cost factor. electronics and jewelry are also two major things in NYC, so those would be a good comparison to show as well.
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