$100 in 1988 is worth $194 in 2012,
because prices increased 94.1% over that period, an average of
2.80% a year.
$100 in 1988 has
the same buying power as
$194
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
94.1%
Average inflation rate
2.80% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$194
Price difference ($100 base)
$94.08
CPI in 1988
118.3
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1988 → 2012
$194
$100 in 2012 → 1988
$51.53
What happened to prices between 1988 and 2012
Between 1988 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 118.3 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 94.1%, which works out to an average of
2.80% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1988 bought what
$0.52 buys in 2012: the 1988 dollar
lost 48.5% of its purchasing power over
these 24 years.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
Every 1988 amount converts to 2012 at the same ratio, 1.94: $1,000 becomes
$1,941, and $10,000 becomes $19,408.
Amount in 1988
Value in 2012
$1.00
$1.94
$5.00
$9.70
$10.00
$19.41
$20.00
$38.82
$50.00
$97.04
$100
$194
$500
$970
$1,000
$1,941
$5,000
$9,704
$10,000
$19,408
$100,000
$194,078
$1,000,000
$1,940,778
Inflation by spending category, 1988–2012
Between 1988 and 2012, medical care rose the most, up 199.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 9.4%, against 94.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1988
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1988 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.80%
$194
Medical care
4.67%
$299
Energy
4.31%
$276
Transportation
2.93%
$200
Food
2.88%
$198
Housing
2.66%
$188
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.62%
$186
Apparel
0.38%
$109
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1988: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1988 to 2012
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 5.11% a year, and slowest in the 2000s (2.39% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1988–2012 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1988, at end
1988–1990
5.11%
10.5%
$110
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$146
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$184
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$194
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1988
$100 from 1988 had already become $146 by
2000, on its way to $194 in 2012; 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 prices fell 0.4% in 2009, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1988 had the buying
power of $194; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1988 to 2012: $100 is worth $194 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1988 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1988-to-2012/