Time Well Spent

The 1997 Annul Report: Time Well Spent, measures cost of living by comparing the time costs of producing a good or service over time. An advantage in measuring it in time cost over price changes is that showing time costs it is more visible to see ho much less, and in some cases more, time required to make a good or service. Showing just prices would only show the price change and not the greater benefit of the time it take to create the product at a lower cost.

With the exception of a few, most of the time costs required to purchase various goods and services have decreased. A half gallon of milk in 1919 cost thirty-nine minutes, compared to 1997 where it only cost seven minutes of work. A dozen of eggs in 1919 cost eighty minutes, to 1997 where is only cost five minutes. A microwave oven in 1947 cost 2,467 hours, compared to 1997 where it only cost sixty-eight hours. A refrigerator in 1916 cost 3,162 hours and in 1997 it only cost sixty-eight hours. As seen with the microwave and refrigerator there is a huge difference in time cost compared to when they were first available A men’s suit cost seventy-nine hours in 1927, compared to 1997 where is was forty hours. In order to get a pair of soft contacts in 1971 the average person would have to do ninety-five hours of work compared to 1997 where a person would only have to work a mere four hours to get a pair. A seven day Caribbean cruse cost fifty-one hours in 1972 and in 1997 it was forty-five hours. Although the cost was only a slight decrease it was still an improvement. In 1930, the cost for a coast-to-coast flight was 360 hours compared to 1997, where it was significantly less, at sixteen hours of work.

In my opinion I do believe that Americans now are better off than Americans in the past and this report does a remarkable job in highlighting just that. The report shows an overall decrease in time cost for obtaining goods and services. As new goods and services hit the market, they usually have high costs. Most of non-wealthy consumers typically cannot afford these new goods and services. As we all know, if no one purchases new products, then that product will not turn a profit, in turn cause the producer to make a different product. On pages 20 and 21 of the report, it notes that the wealthy picked up the fixed cost of most of the goods and services that we all enjoy today for a lower cost than what was initially paid for the goods and services