Inflation in the United States (1774-2007)

by Catherine on May 18, 2008

I graphed the annual percent change of inflation (CPI) in the United States from 1774 to 2007 and then added a graph of the CPI index. This index takes $100 in 2007 and shows what the equivalent dollar amount is for each year (so in 1774 that would be $3.77). However, this does not represent the changes in the standard of living, given the invention of new technology.

{Click on the image to take a closer look}

Data from MeasuringWorth.org

[tags]United States, Inflation[/tags]

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Tagged as: Area Graph, Cost of Living, CPI, Inflation, Line Graph, United States

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Gabriel: Typo in title.

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2 Catherine: Fix it. Thanks!

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3 Cokehead: 1774? But..We were still using GBP’s, right? How can that be accurate?

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4 eric: It really didn’t change until close to 1947, so truthfully, in the last 60 years we have witnessed inflation, not the last 335 years

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5 Catherine: Re: GBP

The CPI series was constructed by using the set of prices of the commodities in a consumerâ€™s market basket but these prices are used only in the form of price relatives (ratio of price in current period to price in a past period), so that information on absolute prices is not necessary. So the currency used should not matter if the basket of commodities is the same.

You can get more information here: What Was the Consumer Price Index Then? A Data Study

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6 james: i saw one of these, and the man determined.. and i agree to a certain extenet, that the inventio of the FED> and the elimination of the Gold Standard act were the biggest contributors to the massive increase

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