"real dollars" means something like "percentage of disposable income".
Also it's impossible to make a meaningful comparison of things you buy for money today compared to things that were bought for money two hundred years ago. Back then a lot more people grew their own food, for example. And they didn't work for software startups and buy all their tech equipment from minimum wage factories in China.
Also it's impossible to make a meaningful comparison of things you buy for money today compared to things that were bought for money two hundred years ago. Back then a lot more people grew their own food, for example. And they didn't work for software startups and buy all their tech equipment from minimum wage factories in China.