Datastream
Purchasing Power of the U.S. Dollar Over Time
The Briefing
- The purchasing power of the U.S. dollar has fallen over time, as money supply has grown
- In fact, $1 in 1913 had the same purchasing power as $26 in 2020
What is Purchasing Power?
The purchasing power of a currency is the amount of goods and services that can be bought with one unit of the currency.
For example, one U.S. dollar could buy 10 bottles of beer in 1933. Today, it’s the cost of a small McDonald’s coffee. In other words, the purchasing power of the dollar—its value in terms of what it can buy—has decreased over time as price levels have risen.
Tracking the Purchasing Power of the Dollar
In 1913, the Federal Reserve Act granted Federal Reserve banks the ability to manage the money supply in order to ensure economic stability. Back then, a dollar could buy 30 Hershey’s chocolate bars.
As more dollars came into circulation, average prices of goods and services increased while the purchasing power of the dollar fell. By 1929, the value of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 73% higher than in 1913, but a dollar was now enough only for 10 rolls of toilet paper.
Year | Event | Purchasing Power of $1 | What a Dollar Buys |
---|---|---|---|
1913 | Creation of the Federal Reserve System | $26.14 | 30 Hershey’s chocolate bars |
1929 | Stock market crash | $15.14 | 10 rolls of toilet paper |
1933 | Gold possession criminalized | $19.91 | 10 bottles of beer |
1944 | Bretton Woods agreement | $14.71 | 20 bottles of Coca-Cola |
1953 | End of the Korean War | $9.69 | 10 bags of pretzels |
1964 | Escalation of the Vietnam War | $8.35 | 1 drive-in movie ticket |
1971 | End of the gold standard | $6.39 | 17 oranges |
1987 | "Black Monday" stock market crash | $2.28 | 2 boxes of crayons |
1997 | Asian financial crisis | $1.61 | 4 grapefruits |
2008 | Global Financial crisis | $1.20 | 2 lemons |
2020 | COVID-19 pandemic | $1.00 | 1 McDonald’s coffee |
Between 1929-1933, the purchasing power of the dollar actually increased due to deflation and a 31% contraction in money supply before eventually declining again. Fast forward to 1944 and the U.S. dollar, fixed to gold at a rate of $35/oz, became the world’s reserve currency under the Bretton Woods agreement.
Meanwhile, the U.S. increased its money supply in order to finance the deficits of World War II followed by the Korean war and the Vietnam war. Hence, the buying power of the dollar reduced from 20 bottles of Coca-Cola in 1944 to a drive-in movie ticket in 1964.
By the late 1960s, the number of dollars in circulation was too high to be backed by U.S. gold reserves. President Nixon ceased direct convertibility of U.S. dollars to gold in 1971. This ended both the gold standard and the limit on the amount of currency that could be printed.
More Dollars in the System
Money supply (M2) in the U.S. has skyrocketed over the last two decades, up from $4.6 trillion in 2000 to $19.5 trillion in 2021.
The effects of the rise in money supply were amplified by the financial crisis of 2008 and more recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, around 20% of all U.S. dollars in the money supply, $3.4 trillion, were created in 2020 alone.
How will the purchasing power of the dollar evolve going forward?
Where does this data come from?
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics – Consumer Price Index, Morris County Library of Historic Prices
Details: Purchasing power is based on average annual CPI values from 1913-2020 (not seasonally adjusted). Reference base for the CPI is 1982-84 = 100.
Datastream
The Link Between Entrepreneurship and Mental Health Conditions
Research explores the link between entrepreneurship and mental health conditions such as ADHD and bipolar disorder

The Briefing
- Prevalence of ADHD, substance use disorders, and mood disorders appears to be higher in entrepreneurs than in the general public
- One-third of entrepreneurs reported two or more co-occurring mental health conditions
The Link Between Entrepreneurship and Mental Health Conditions
Entrepreneurship has long been associated with traits like risk-taking, persistence, and creativity. It’s no surprise, then, many of the world’s most successful companies were brought to life by neurodivergent founders.
Neurodivergence refers to natural differences in brain function among individuals with conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and bipolar disorder. As this 2019 study demonstrates, entrepreneurs appear to experience mental health and addiction issues more frequently than the general public, and tend to have families with these illnesses at a higher rate.
Nearly half of entrepreneurs included in the study have one or more mental health conditions. Below the are the numbers for four of the conditions studied.
Entrepreneurs | General Sample Group | |
---|---|---|
ADHD | 29% | 5% |
Depression | 30% | 15% |
Bipolar | 11% | 1% |
Addiction | 12% | 4% |
The research also looked at anxiety, but found that levels were similar between entrepreneurs and the sample group.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), dyslexia, and Asperger’s Syndrome, which are not included in this research, are other noteworthy conditions that are sometimes connected with entrepreneurship.
Asperger’s, in particular, is present in a number of successful founders, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates. Peter Thiel, billionaire investor and serial entrepreneur, has argued that this mild version of autism could be an asset in founding successful companies.
An Open Question
There are two competing ideas around the link between entrepreneurship and mental health conditions.
First, some posit that traits associated with mental health conditions (e.g. hyperfocus for ADHD, or attention to detail for Asperger’s) are assets in the startup world.
Secondly, it is also thought that because neurodivergent individuals have more trouble succeeding in conventional frameworks in academia and business, they are more likely to forge their own path by founding companies and pursuing self-employment.
It’s entirely possible that both these ideas are true. The more research that is published around mental health and entrepreneurship, the clearer view we have on the traits associated with creating successful businesses.
The more open the conversation is around mental health, the more we can create conditions in the workplace that empower neurodivergent individuals.
Source: Freeman, M.A., Staudenmaier, P.J., Zisser, M.R. et al. The prevalence and co-occurrence of psychiatric conditions among entrepreneurs and their families. Small Bus Econ 53, 323–342 (2019).
Data notes: Data was analyzed from 76 MBA student and faculty pool participants, 149 psychology students, and 110 entrepreneurs not affiliated with the university. Participants from either recruitment group who reported a history of self-employment or founding or co-founding a for-profit or non-profit business were categorized as entrepreneurs (n = 242).
Hat tip: We discovered this research via The Generalist who published a fantastic post on who becomes an entrepreneur.
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