Statistics: America in Our Time

America in Our Time
 

Consumer Price Index

Price Increase

1972

2 percent

1974

8 percent

1976

5 percent

1978

8 percent

1980

12 percent

1982

4 percent

1984

4 percent


 

Consumer Prices, 1967

3-bedroom house

$17,000

New Cadillac de Ville convertible

$6,700

New Volkswagen

$1,497

5-ounce tube of Crest toothpaste

39 cents

Sirloin steak

89 cents a pound

Hershey chocolate bar

5 cents

Regular gasoline

34 cents a gallon

Portable typewriter

$39

Transistor radio

$14

Man's gray flannel suit

$69

Black and white TV set

$79

Questions to Think About

  1. How have prices changed since 1967? Are increases greatest, in your view, in luxuries or in necessities?
  2. What factors have contributed to increased price levels?



Automobile Imports
 

Proportion of Auto Market Held by Foreign Manufacturers

1946-50

0.2

1961-65

6.1

1966-70

10.6

1971-75

15.2

1976-80

20.1


Questions to Think About

  1. When did automobile imports increase most rapidly?
  2. Why, in your view, did automobile imports increase?

Families
 

The Changing Family

1960

1980

Married couples

75%

55%

with children

44%

48%

without children

33%

27%

Female heads

17%

29%

with children

3%

22%

without children

14%

7%

Lone male head

8%

16%

with children

1%

1%

without children

7%

15%


Questions to Think About

  1. Describe the fundamental ways that the nature of work has changed over the course of the 20th century?
  2. What kinds of work do people do if they do not make food or goods?