根据CPI，比较不同时期的工资

Source: , Chapter 23 By: Mankiw

DOLLAR FIGURES FROM DIFFERENT TIMES

We mentioned the baseball player Babe Ruth's salary before. Was his salary of $80,000 in 1931 high or low compared to the salaries of today's players?

To answer this question, we need to know the level of prices in 1931 and the level of prices today. Part of the increase in baseball salaries just compensates players for the higher level of prices today. To compare Ruth's salary to those of today's players, we need to inflate Ruth's salary to turn 1931 dollars into today's dollars. A price index determines the size of this inflation correction.

Goverment statistics hsow a consumer price index of 15.2 for 1931 and 166 for 1999. Thus, the overall level of prices has risen by a factor of 10.9 (which equals 166/15.2). We can use these numbers to measure Ruth's salary in 1999 dollars. The calculaion is as follows:

Salary in 1999 dollars = Salary in 1931 dollars * ( Price level in1999 / Price levle in 1931 )
= &80,000 * ( 166/15.2 )
= $ 873,684

According to today's salary of baseball players, it is far less than the amout paid to them.