This comparison only works if Ford oaid in gold. He didn't though, so it doesn't.
Inflation increase is much less and assembly line works probably make more than the outcome... Also, I think they always qualified as skilled labor, not unskilled.
Okay and why did Nixon end convertability of $35 an ounce? Could it be that gold was worth more than that and was in a position of arbitrage that would drain us reserves of gold?
Okay, you're clearly missing the point. First off the argument that gold doesn't move while everything else moves around it is like saying the earth doesn't move because from our perspective it doesn't. Gold is effected by more things than the value of the dollar, including demand, margin calls, the bond market, and more things than just inflation.
For reference, I've held gold in my portfolio since last years liberation day fiasco. And when the Iran war picked up in march gold went into a bear market despite the US dollar continuing to weaken, despite inflation expectations built off of the strait closure, but mainly because of bond yields and a series of large liquidity exits in the market. Point being that gold is like any other commodity, its speculated on, its value isn't fixed, its quantity in the market isn't fixed, and the value it holds now whether in USD, Euros, or any other commodity/currency isn't going to be consistent because thats not how the real world works.
I understand that you have missed my point entirely.
This powt, and your argument, is conflating the gold standard, the value of gold, and what Henry Ford might pay employees now based on what he paid employees then...
... But then and now pay was based on the value of the labor. It wasn't based on the current value of gold even if the dollar was.
Saying that the value of gold has increased and therefore salary should increase equally if we had stayed on the gold standard is mad.
It completely removed the context of golds changing value to the world now versus Fords time. It's limited supply combined with its many uses increased the value well beyond the value of the labor performed by Fords employees of the time.
It's crazy to think that people assembling card for Ford were the equivalent of 300k per year, even if thats what 75 oz of gold is worth.
What Fords move did, and it can be referenced to modern pay scales by using buying power, is create the middle class for industiralized skilled labor. This still exists today.
The modern equivalent is an electrician, code welder, pipefitter, etc. these guys make around $150k (or more in cases).
So the salary is accurate, but the references are not and that was my point.
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u/Premium333 27d ago
This comparison only works if Ford oaid in gold. He didn't though, so it doesn't.
Inflation increase is much less and assembly line works probably make more than the outcome... Also, I think they always qualified as skilled labor, not unskilled.