Robert Ewing
@ecorat.com
World class nerd, public servant, economist statistician and senior executive.
And a 2024 basket would have a mobile phone, which would be impossible to put a price on in 1974. The CPI offers a good compromise – a basket of goods that changes over time allowing us to have stability in the short term, but changes to reflect changing consumption in the longer term. (8/8)
October 27, 2024 at 6:54 AM
And a 2024 basket would have a mobile phone, which would be impossible to put a price on in 1974. The CPI offers a good compromise – a basket of goods that changes over time allowing us to have stability in the short term, but changes to reflect changing consumption in the longer term. (8/8)
More broadly, why not compare a full basket of goods? You could with enough time, but the problem is what we buy over time shifts so much. A 1974 consumption basket would have a lot more unfinished fabric and sewing equipment than today. (7/8)
October 27, 2024 at 6:54 AM
More broadly, why not compare a full basket of goods? You could with enough time, but the problem is what we buy over time shifts so much. A 1974 consumption basket would have a lot more unfinished fabric and sewing equipment than today. (7/8)
So, we can buy a bit more of everything, but for some things (like paper towels or Weet-Bix) not much more. And we’re a lot better off when buying a mower. (6/8)
October 27, 2024 at 6:54 AM
So, we can buy a bit more of everything, but for some things (like paper towels or Weet-Bix) not much more. And we’re a lot better off when buying a mower. (6/8)
Since 1974 the CPI for Canberra (measuring the ‘standard basket’ of goods and services for Canberra) has increased by around 850%, while the minimum wage has increased by 1,050%. (5/8)
October 27, 2024 at 6:54 AM
Since 1974 the CPI for Canberra (measuring the ‘standard basket’ of goods and services for Canberra) has increased by around 850%, while the minimum wage has increased by 1,050%. (5/8)
The minimum wage in 2024 is $24.10.
A search finds $2.20 for 440mL of soup, a two-pack of paper towels for $3.85, and 1.2kg of Weet-Bix for $6. So for an hour of work, we get 5 litres of soup, 12 paper towels, and 4.82kg of Weet-Bix. The Victa Mower is $499 today, so 21 hours for that. (4/8)
A search finds $2.20 for 440mL of soup, a two-pack of paper towels for $3.85, and 1.2kg of Weet-Bix for $6. So for an hour of work, we get 5 litres of soup, 12 paper towels, and 4.82kg of Weet-Bix. The Victa Mower is $499 today, so 21 hours for that. (4/8)
October 27, 2024 at 6:54 AM
The minimum wage in 2024 is $24.10.
A search finds $2.20 for 440mL of soup, a two-pack of paper towels for $3.85, and 1.2kg of Weet-Bix for $6. So for an hour of work, we get 5 litres of soup, 12 paper towels, and 4.82kg of Weet-Bix. The Victa Mower is $499 today, so 21 hours for that. (4/8)
A search finds $2.20 for 440mL of soup, a two-pack of paper towels for $3.85, and 1.2kg of Weet-Bix for $6. So for an hour of work, we get 5 litres of soup, 12 paper towels, and 4.82kg of Weet-Bix. The Victa Mower is $499 today, so 21 hours for that. (4/8)
The Federal minimum wage is $2.08 per hour.
So, we can get 3.7 litres of soup, 11 paper towels, or 4.25kg of Weet-Bix. It would take 58.6 hours of work to buy the mower. (3/8)
So, we can get 3.7 litres of soup, 11 paper towels, or 4.25kg of Weet-Bix. It would take 58.6 hours of work to buy the mower. (3/8)
October 27, 2024 at 6:53 AM
The Federal minimum wage is $2.08 per hour.
So, we can get 3.7 litres of soup, 11 paper towels, or 4.25kg of Weet-Bix. It would take 58.6 hours of work to buy the mower. (3/8)
So, we can get 3.7 litres of soup, 11 paper towels, or 4.25kg of Weet-Bix. It would take 58.6 hours of work to buy the mower. (3/8)
The front page of the Canberra Times leads with 22 per cent inflation. Alongside a 3-page advert for Julius Marlowe shoes we can see a 15oz can of soup is 25c, a twin pack of paper towels is 36c, and a kilogram of Weet-Bix is 49c. A few pages later there’s a Victa Mower for $122. (2/8)
October 27, 2024 at 6:52 AM
The front page of the Canberra Times leads with 22 per cent inflation. Alongside a 3-page advert for Julius Marlowe shoes we can see a 15oz can of soup is 25c, a twin pack of paper towels is 36c, and a kilogram of Weet-Bix is 49c. A few pages later there’s a Victa Mower for $122. (2/8)
I've got a great LinkedIn post (yeah, I know, but it's where that audience is) on price change since 1974 I'll port over here shortly.
October 27, 2024 at 6:41 AM
I've got a great LinkedIn post (yeah, I know, but it's where that audience is) on price change since 1974 I'll port over here shortly.
First draft of the paper had some interesting analysis of some of the goods that were in short supply during COVID - what we could see there is a long (and unusual) pause in the discounting, as supermarkets responsibly tried to avoid adding to demand. (Dropped for space reasons).
October 27, 2024 at 6:40 AM
First draft of the paper had some interesting analysis of some of the goods that were in short supply during COVID - what we could see there is a long (and unusual) pause in the discounting, as supermarkets responsibly tried to avoid adding to demand. (Dropped for space reasons).
Thanks Jason! It’s amazing just how strong these effects are - our paper shows some products basically only sell when they’re on sale.
October 26, 2024 at 9:57 PM
Thanks Jason! It’s amazing just how strong these effects are - our paper shows some products basically only sell when they’re on sale.
Yep, thanks to the flyby of Triton when going past Neptune, which swung it far to the south of the ecliptic. What an incredible mission!
September 20, 2024 at 11:23 AM
Yep, thanks to the flyby of Triton when going past Neptune, which swung it far to the south of the ecliptic. What an incredible mission!
Amazing that you can do something functional with that much. What language are you using? Bare assembler?
September 20, 2024 at 2:55 AM
Amazing that you can do something functional with that much. What language are you using? Bare assembler?
If you can ever visit one of the DSN stations they’re an impressive sight!
September 20, 2024 at 2:51 AM
If you can ever visit one of the DSN stations they’re an impressive sight!
The DSN has a lot of 34m dishes (total of 11) which work for most missions, allowing the 70m dishes to spend enough time on Voyager.
September 20, 2024 at 2:51 AM
The DSN has a lot of 34m dishes (total of 11) which work for most missions, allowing the 70m dishes to spend enough time on Voyager.
There are three dishes in the DSN used to communicate with Voyager 1 - each 70m. Voyager gets a session pretty much every day, usually about 8 hours long. 160b/sec takes a while!
Voyager 2 can only be seen by one of these three dishes (Canberra), and gets about the same time a day.
Voyager 2 can only be seen by one of these three dishes (Canberra), and gets about the same time a day.
September 20, 2024 at 2:50 AM
There are three dishes in the DSN used to communicate with Voyager 1 - each 70m. Voyager gets a session pretty much every day, usually about 8 hours long. 160b/sec takes a while!
Voyager 2 can only be seen by one of these three dishes (Canberra), and gets about the same time a day.
Voyager 2 can only be seen by one of these three dishes (Canberra), and gets about the same time a day.
Are there any mechanical keyboard enthusiasts on the E? Can they be made to work with LCARS?
September 5, 2024 at 10:41 AM
Are there any mechanical keyboard enthusiasts on the E? Can they be made to work with LCARS?
That looks to me like the perfect canvas for some Fallout themed 3d printing decoration…
August 7, 2024 at 6:18 AM
That looks to me like the perfect canvas for some Fallout themed 3d printing decoration…
Checks out - I always think they look like a platypus wearing armour…
June 16, 2024 at 1:37 AM
Checks out - I always think they look like a platypus wearing armour…
I’ve been on the other side of that phone call more than once… the mix of surprise, happiness and ‘if you’d called me two months ago’…
March 29, 2024 at 10:05 PM
I’ve been on the other side of that phone call more than once… the mix of surprise, happiness and ‘if you’d called me two months ago’…
If you interviewed this year it’s entirely possible they’re not done yet. I’ve seen processes that slow as they get the bureaucratic sign offs done.
March 29, 2024 at 9:51 PM
If you interviewed this year it’s entirely possible they’re not done yet. I’ve seen processes that slow as they get the bureaucratic sign offs done.