Happy Independence Day to you all.   

Our country has come a long way in 225 years.

From the blog 24/7 Wall St.:

The cost of living in America has gone up about fifteen fold since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Of course, not all prices have risen at the same rate.

The value of coffee has increased fifteen times from its price 234 years ago. This is similar to the decrease in the value of the dollar, based on the purchasing power of a dollar and the consumer price index.

The value of land has risen a great deal in certain parts of the country – particularly those areas that were rural and now are parts of big cities. It was impossible to know 150 years ago that land in New York’s Central Park would be worth several thousand times what it was in 1776. Conversely, products like whale oil, once used to light homes, now have no legal value at all. Powdered wigs have almost certainly dropped in value now that they are out of fashion.  Read the rest

Here’s a chart showing America’s energy consumption (of wood, coal, hydroelectric power, petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear power) from 1776 through 2007.  It will be interesting to see what a similar chart looks like in another 50 or 100 years.

Happy 4th of July!