Shopping at the Half Moon Bay Ace Hardware (with the most helpful associates ever!), I came across this basic Sharp calculator for $5.99:

I was explaining to my 7 year old son, that when I was about his age (1975), this was the most advanced mass market computing device available (pre-PCs, pre-internet, pre-IPhone, almost prehistoric!). I recall my oldest brother dragging me to a store in Demarest, NJ to find a calculator for his math class. I was in awe of this device that could “do math” at the push of a button and shocked at its price tag too ($29.99 if memory serves me right). I thought about this in the context of our this Data Crunch released last week: How Have Prices for Consumer Goods Changed Over the Past 20 years?

Question: How much have the prices of basic calculators changed since 1975 (41 years ago)?

Answer: Using the handy BLS calculator, I discovered that the 29.99 used to purchase the calculator in 1975 is equivalent to $136 in buying power in 2016. But instead of paying $136 in 2016 for that calculator, it now retails for about $6.00, a discount of about 96%. Oh, it’s solar powered too so none of those pesky batteries either. Interestingly enough, the chart in our Data Crunch shows a 96% price decline for TVs but that was over a 20 year period, not 40 years.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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