Interview-Professor Samuel Williamson: What is that Thing's Value Today? [Eurodollar University, Ep. 90]

Jul 22, 2021

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Professor Sam Williamson, economic historian, explains how the value of commodities, projects and income/wealth should be properly measured across time (AND IT IS NOT WITH A CPI INDEX!). Otherwise, like a recent NY Times article, your worth may be off by a factor of 20!!!!

--------EP. 90 REFERENCES--------
Measuring Worth: https://bit.ly/36TfZZD
Measuring Worth Twitter: https://bit.ly/3BuZotf
Measuring Worth Blog: https://bit.ly/3rqyz4R

NY Times Tulsa Article: https://nyti.ms/3eKKDIR
National Geographic Tulsa Article: https://on.natgeo.com/3izkL41

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Emil YouTube: https://bit.ly/310yisL

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----EPISODE #90 TOPICS----
0:00:00 The NYTimes says the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot cost $27M. And Professor Williamson? $534m.
0:06:24 Introducing Professor Samuel H. Williamson
0:09:21 At what point does using "CPI" to value something in the past stop making sense?
0:11:25 George Washington's nephew asked to borrow $1,000 in 1800 - how much is that worth now?
0:16:03 Why does the mainstream press continue to use woefully inadequate estimates of worth?
0:16:38 How does one select the correct measure of present worth for a historical value?
0:20:45 What does Professor Williamson think about the current "transitory" inflation debate?
0:29:41 Is the CPI a good, best effort measure of inflation in the United States?
0:31:53 Are alternative measures of inflation better than the CPI?
0:36:06 Mainstream economic data implies a preciseness that is illusory.
0:38:56 The headlines in the media are merely the surface of deeper, complex concepts.
0:40:26 A real price value of the Empire State Building doesn't tell us what it is worth today.
0:44:26 MeasuringWorth has data for the US, UK, Spain, Australia, gold, silver, stocks, etc.
0:47:48 Is their a pension crisis?

---------WHO-----------
Samuel H. Williamson, cofounder / president of MeasuringWorth, cofounder of The Cliometric Society, creator of EH.net and Professor of Economics, Emeritus, from Miami University with Jeff Snider, Head of Global Investment Research for Alhambra Investments, and Emil Kalinowski. Podcast intro/outro is "Mama's Woogie Mojo" by Wendy Marcini at Epidemic Sound. Art by David Parkins.