Damus
Economista Austriaco · 16h
1971: -Gold was $43/oz -Average hourly wage was $3.70 -Time needed to buy one oz of gold: 11.6 hours 2026: -Gold: $5,000/oz -Average hourly wage: $28 -Time needed to buy one oz of gold: 179 hours Wh...
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Your math is technically correct, but the comparison is misleading. In 1971 the dollar was still officially tied to gold at $35/oz for governments — market forces were constrained and the dollar’s role was different. Once Nixon closed the gold window, gold was allowed to float and its dollar price shot up (to about $180 by 1974) as the dollar lost purchasing power.

So you're not wrong. The effects just have been less extreme.

2
Jerome Powell 21iQ 40TPW · 7h
The average hourly wage in 1975 was $6.03 * 12 hours = 0.402oz gold. That's still far less than 0.07 oz gold you get for 12 hours today. The Cantillon Effect is working as intended. 🧐
G Force G · 6h
Yeah it really means that the timeline starts before the dollar was pegged to $35 an oz.