$100 in 1985 is worth $200 in 2008,
because prices increased 100.1% over that period, an average of
3.06% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$200
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
100.1%
Average inflation rate
3.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$200
Price difference ($100 base)
$100
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1985 → 2008
$200
$100 in 2008 → 1985
$49.98
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2008
Between 1985 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 100.1%, which works out to an average of
3.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.50 buys in 2008: the 1985 dollar
lost 50.0% of its purchasing power over
these 23 years.
By 1985, low inflation had become the norm rather than the exception.
Consumer prices rose 3.6% for the year, the fourth straight year in the
3-6% range following the double-digit spikes of 1980 and 1981, proof that
the disinflation had held rather than merely paused, as it had after
previous recessions. Overseas, the dollar had become a problem of its own:
years of high U.S. interest rates had pulled in foreign capital and pushed
the dollar’s value up so far that American exporters were losing business
abroad, widening the trade deficit. In September, the finance ministers of
the U.S., Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom met at New
York’s Plaza Hotel and agreed to coordinate a managed decline of the
dollar; it fell roughly 25% against major currencies over the following two
years. At home, Congress responded to a federal deficit that had roughly
tripled since 1980 by passing the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act in December,
setting binding targets to shrink the deficit with automatic
across-the-board cuts if lawmakers missed them. Households felt the calmer
economy in small ways: first-class postage rose to 22 cents in February,
its first increase since November 1981, after nearly four years at 20
cents.
Every 1985 amount converts to 2008 at the same ratio, 2.00: $1,000 becomes
$2,001, and $10,000 becomes $20,010.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2008
$1.00
$2.00
$5.00
$10.00
$10.00
$20.01
$20.00
$40.02
$50.00
$100
$100
$200
$500
$1,000
$1,000
$2,001
$5,000
$10,005
$10,000
$20,010
$100,000
$200,096
$1,000,000
$2,000,957
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2008
Between 1985 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 220.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 13.2%, against 100.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.06%
$200
Medical care
5.20%
$321
Energy
3.74%
$233
Food
3.12%
$203
Housing
3.08%
$201
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.01%
$198
Transportation
2.68%
$184
Apparel
0.54%
$113
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2008
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2008 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1985, at end
1985–1990
3.97%
21.5%
$121
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$160
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$200
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $146 by
1996, on its way to $200 in 2008; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 5.4% in 1990, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1985 had the buying
power of $200; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1985 to 2008: $100 is worth $200 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2008/