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Behind the Numbers: What Does Life Really Cost?

Forget inflation percentages for a minute. What if we priced things in the one currency none of us can print more of — hours of human life?

In 1966, a cheeseburger cost me 19 cents. Today, something comparable might be $3.50. Sounds terrible until you ask how many minutes you had to work to buy each one. Do that across bread, milk, eggs, gasoline, college, housing — and even a funeral — and a much stranger picture appears. Some ordinary things have actually become cheaper in human time. The things that increasingly grant admission to adult life — especially housing and education — have gone the other way.

That led me to a measure I haven’t seen discussed quite this way before: uncommitted work time. After housing, food, utilities, transportation, insurance and debt take their bite, how many hours of your working life are actually still yours? And here’s the Peoplenomics question: Could changes in that number warn us that an economy is approaching trouble before conventional inflation numbers do?

So today we take the idea through the Depression, Weimar Germany, the Asian financial crisis, Iceland, Argentina, Japan and 2008 — including the cases where the idea doesn’t work — and sketch out how a Constant Pricing Life dashboard could actually be back-tested.

Plus, of course, this morning’s ADP, GDP, trade, income and corporate-profit numbers, the News Compressor, and the ChartPack.

Oh — and I discovered one bit of encouraging economic news:

Apparently, it hasn’t gotten any more expensive in human time to die.

Why isn’t that especially comforting?

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4 thoughts on “Behind the Numbers: What Does Life Really Cost?”

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  1. “So today we take the idea through the Depression, Weimar Germany, the Asian financial crisis, Iceland, Argentina, Japan and 2008-,,, ”

    seems I read this on the back of a shampoo bottle
    rinse and repeat,,,, sells twice as much shampoo than needed, good for the corporations, not good for the blind ,,, soap poisoning
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtEaka1QeV0

    are Trump and Bessent returning US to Constitutional money? set it up, before wiping the feral non reserve and flushing it?
    I have read that all wars are economic in nature. Seems ole England has stopped warring on US since they regain financial control and then they started using US to fight for their benefit,
    Iran is not a new war but was planned and started with the CIA overthrow of the shah, as a stooge to create the middle east CONflict with the UN/Britian Royals/Rothchild creation of the country of Israel. Puppet masters setting the stage for the viewing sheeple.
    My opinion is,,, It is not all Gods chosen people of Jacob’s desendants and has a false insertion of some claiming to be.
    Twelve tribes and God’s biblical promise is not filled by just some of the tribe of Judah that has been infiltrated by others claiming to be Jewish.

    Seats upright and belts in use,, also when riding on this rollercoaster, don’t sit behind the libtarded pukers,,, Orange ya’all glad ? Well, entertained anyway,,, oranges have vitamin C and and humans need it

    So the co-pilot stabbed the pilot while in flight, ya don’t say
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/watch-flydubai-flight-israel-makes-emergency-landing-after/

    Reply

  2. re: cheeseburger index

    Today’s edition of the “Daily Mail” features a detailed report from their UK Health Editor. Under a headline partially reading “…Sales Plunge…”, she examines healthy menu choices from kitchens of that fast food chain which deploys a mascot named Ronald.

    No detailed numbers are mentioned in the news article regarding alleged plunging sales. However as chance would have it, the media outlet published an accompanying gallery of images sourced from Ronald’s employer. One of them is a picture-perfect cheeseburger. A pickle is clearly visible. The hamburger patty of course is round.

    Here is a link to the report at the “Daily Mail” website:

    https://www.dailymail.com/health/article-16168647.html

    Reply

  3. the bond vigilantes ridin inta wall and broad . the other half ridin inta the eccles buildin in DC . warshy and his governors are hold up there , made a big barricade of old furniture from the reno . they are gunna shoot it out . warshy put up the white flag in the treasury

    Reply

  4. boss of the vigilante gang yelling at eccles building . lay down your weapons warsh , we already got bessent . he was treasonous with his bond market lies . so give up before we finish the joint . king donny do nothin for yah , he playin with his assistant , his boyz donny jnr and eric they makin trillions for daddy . give up now your surrounded

    Reply

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