Between 1928 and 1989, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 124.
Cumulatively, prices increased 625.1%, which works out to an average of
3.30% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.14 buys in 1989.
Consumer prices fell 1.7% in 1928, the second straight year of mild decline
even as the stock market climbed sharply, a widening gap between asset
prices and the cost of living that later economists pointed to as an early
warning sign. The Federal Reserve tightened policy repeatedly over the year,
raising its discount rate in an effort to slow the flood of borrowed money
pouring into stock purchases without derailing the broader economy, a
balancing act it ultimately failed to manage. Herbert Hoover won the
presidential election that November, defeating Democrat Al Smith on a
platform built around continuing the prosperity of the Coolidge years; few
voters or policymakers anticipated how quickly that prosperity would end.
First-class postage remained at 2 cents, a price that had now held for nine
straight years.
The headline number is an average. Individual categories moved very differently over this
period. Here is what $100 of 1928 spending costs in 1989, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.30%
$725
Food
3.40%
$767
Apparel
2.59%
$474
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1928: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
Cite this page
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1989: $100 is worth $725 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1989/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1989. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1989/