Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Xerox copy price remains stable for decades

Around 5 cents. Even when the machines were first introduced in March 1960.

I remember 5 cents per copy in the 1970s during my first experience with copy machines. Some machines were 10 cents per copy. Coin operated at the WSU library where I grew up in Pullman, WA.

Meanwhile, house prices in Seattle, WA. have soared from around 20 thousand dollars in the 1970s to approaching one million dollars for the same house today.

Amazing.

Diverging rates of inflation.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You keep ignoring the Law of Supply and Demand when you talk about house prices. Xerox can make enough xerox paper to meet the demand and keep the price stable. House prices on the other hand is another animal entirely. There is a limited supply of houses within the Seattle city limits so the price goes up when demand exceeds supply.

Theslowlane Robert Ashworth said...

Good point Steve. Over population and limited land are at the base of the problem, but the situation is made worse by financial housing bubbles and extremely low interest rates. Poor planning and large lot size is part of the problem also.

When housing gets so expensive compared to other things, how can people employed making xerox copies afford to live? Different sectors of the economy are getting to where they can no longer function together.