The value of pre-modern currencies.

[The Minsky Moment]

I'm not really sure why it matters to take into account objects that didn't exist at the time as part of the equation.  After all, saying that Darcy had the equivalent of 6mil today shouldn't really suggest that he'd have all those things that hadn't been invented/discovered yet.

Then what does it mean to say that he had the equivalent of 6 million today?  The only equivalence is in terms of relative fractions of GDP shares.  But since the compositions of those GDPs is completely different, how is that a useful piece of information?

[garbon]

I'm not really sure why it matters to take into account objects that didn't exist at the time as part of the equation.  After all, saying that Darcy had the equivalent of 6mil today shouldn't really suggest that he'd have all those things that hadn't been invented/discovered yet.

Then what does it mean to say that he had the equivalent of 6 million today?  The only equivalence is in terms of relative fractions of GDP shares.  But since the compositions of those GDPs is completely different, how is that a useful piece of information?

To be honest, I don't really know. I usually just gloss over any mention of currency in works unless it is compared to other currency amounts in the same time span.

[Jacob]

I think to get an idea of how much X amount of money is worth, you need some sort of abstracted Big Mac index that makes sense across time.

- how much would it cost to employ an unskilled labourer for a year? How much of that money would the labourer see for himself (be it in cash, goods or services)?
- what was the fair price to pay a healthy man for the loss of an arm?
- how much money would you have to spend to be acceptably dressed to go to a formal social occasion involving the very elite of the society?
- if you had to spend cash to eat for a month, how much would it cost you to do so as cheaply as possible? How much would it cost you to eat in the manner of someone of the elite?
- what amount of money would roughly be enough for an average city dweller to set himself up for life without having to engage in a profession or labour, with a comfortable standard of living according to the standards of the time?
- what's the price of a cheap fuck from a prostitute? How much to maintain a mistress in style in a cosmopolitan city?

[Iormlund]

- what's the price of a cheap fuck from a prostitute? How much to maintain a mistress in style in a cosmopolitan city?

I'd love to see that one on our Consumer Price Index.

[Malthus]

What is the problem (non-rhetorical)?

The difficulty in a layman trying to find out how much a premodern currency is worth in today's currency of choice.

Why would a layman have any need to do such a thing?

Preparation in case of random time-slips. Can't be too careful!

[The Minsky Moment]

I think to get an idea of how much X amount of money is worth, you need some sort of abstracted Big Mac index that makes sense across time.

- how much would it cost to employ an unskilled labourer for a year? How much of that money would the labourer see for himself (be it in cash, goods or services)?
- what was the fair price to pay a healthy man for the loss of an arm?
- how much money would you have to spend to be acceptably dressed to go to a formal social occasion involving the very elite of the society?
- if you had to spend cash to eat for a month, how much would it cost you to do so as cheaply as possible? How much would it cost you to eat in the manner of someone of the elite?
- what amount of money would roughly be enough for an average city dweller to set himself up for life without having to engage in a profession or labour, with a comfortable standard of living according to the standards of the time?
- what's the price of a cheap fuck from a prostitute? How much to maintain a mistress in style in a cosmopolitan city?

What you will find if you do exercises like that is that you will get very inconsistent conversion rates.

The basic problem is that our present economy is so fundamentally different from pre-modern ones that these kinds of points of comparisons are so different.  Pre-modern wealth consists primarily of command over human bodies and bundles of rights and privileges over land in the context of agrarian based economy.  Modern wealth consists of the ability to command the output of complex industrial processes, and the ability to exercise various sets of rights over the operation of institutional agglomerations.  You can't really translate one to the other without missing something quite critical.

[Malthus]

My main concern is "what amount of money per year equates to an equivalent social class".

As in, I earn X per year as a lawyer, making me upper-middle class, living in a major city. How much would I need to earn in 1820 in (say) England to have roughly the same social position? 

[Ideologue]

Should convert to whores/year.

[Warspite]

How many bushels of wheat can the average modern salary buy?

[jimmy olsen]

Sort of like people claiming Marcus Licinius Crassus was one of the richest men in all history.

Granted Warren Buffet does not have his own army.

You're so naive it makes me sick! 

[The Minsky Moment]

How many bushels of wheat can the average modern salary buy?

Quite a lot because what is being purchased is the product of an industrialized process using genetically optimized material and transported using modern means.  Also quite a lot because on the demand side, wheat competes with maize, potatoes, rice etc. as substitutes and that keeps the price down.  A direct comparison to pre-modern Europe could be very misleading.

[jimmy olsen]

What is the problem (non-rhetorical)?

The difficulty in a layman trying to find out how much a premodern currency is worth in today's currency of choice.

Why would a layman have any need to do such a thing?

Because folks like us just want to know. I suppose we would fall under educated laymen. Whenever I'm reading a book set around in mid 19th century America and a price is listed I multiply the $ amount by 25 to get a feel for what it costs.

[Jacob]

Because folks like us just want to know. I suppose we would fall under educated laymen. Whenever I'm reading a book set around in mid 19th century America and a price is listed I multiply the $ amount by 25 to get a feel for what it costs.

Multiplying by 25? That does seem very educated indeed 

[Ed Anger]

I buy a long sword for 5gp, and those fancy pantaloons for 2 sp.

[jimmy olsen]

Because folks like us just want to know. I suppose we would fall under educated laymen.

Whenever I'm reading a book set around in mid 19th century America and a price is listed I multiply the $ amount by 25 to get a feel for what it costs.

Multiplying by 25? That does seem very educated indeed 

The two statements were not meant to be connected.