On: Hamilton teen embroiled in FBI probe, fingered in ...

[not2b]

In many cases the amounts were written into the law so long ago that money was worth maybe 20x as much, or more.

[btilly → not2b]

My favorite example of such is https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-7/.

$20 doesn't buy as much today as it did in 1800. :-)

[hermitdev → btilly]

$20 doesn't buy as much as it did in 2020, either...

[CRConrad → hermitdev]

Compared to the purchasing power difference between 1800 and 2021, a dollar buys (almost) exactly as much in 2021 as it did in 2020. ("Almost" in parentheses, because at any reasonable precision, the 20/21 difference will probably round to zero.)

When they're big enough, differences of quantity become differences of quality.

[hanniabu → not2b]

And that's why we really need to start assigning equations rather than static amounts in bills

[seszett → hanniabu]

It's not exactly that, but in Belgium penalties written in law are an amount that is multiplied by a factor that is regularly updated.

It went from 5.5 to 6 in 2011, then to 8 in 2017 and is still there AFAIK. It seems a bit haphazardly managed to me, but it's something.

[bpodgursky → hanniabu]

Alternatively we could maintain a stable currency people can rely on as a store of value.

[Terry_Roll → not2b]

Inflation was known to legislators back then so its way for legislators to lower the bar and catch more people in the future, without anyone picking up on it at the time.

Anyway fabricating evidence has been around for as long evidence has been needed to settle disputes.