If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?

Post by mymythisisthis » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 1:49 PM UTC

tzs wrote: post #782

sidewndr46 wrote: post #609

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've got the cause and effect backwards here. The average purchase price of a car in constant dollars is about double now because those are the only cars to purchase and the only group that can afford those cars are those who are affluent. In general the people who purchase new vehicles ironically are not the ones who own them. They consistently purchase new vehicles at a regular cadence. The existence of some base…

I wasn't talking about just base trims of the cheapest models. For example in 1989 the Honda Accord ranged from $11.5-18.2k depending on trim. Converted to today's dollars using CPI that is $31-50k. Converted using the Social Security indexing factors [1] it is $38-60. The SSA indexing factors are probably better for comparing car affordability of infrequently purchased big tickets items. The range of new Accord pric…