1900 and 1912 and land within the forthcoming totals. At any rate no one will ever know whether the bewildered verdict of the Bureau of the Census or the following projection is more accurate; and in the meantime we shall have some approximate figures upon which to base the more essential argument.
In the year 1900 the total wealth of the United States was estimated by the Bureau of the Census to be close to 88.52 billion dollars, and the population to be 76 million. In 1912 the population had increased to approximately 95.34 million, or 25.45 per cent. On the assumption that an increase in population is a direct factor in the production of new wealth, let us take for granted that our wealth would also have increased in the same ratio: this would give us an estimated total wealth of 111.05 billion dollars. But we have also to take into consideration that the “1912” dollar was only worth about 80⁄101 of the “1900” dollar, based on the findings of the U. S. Department of Labor Statistics,[1] so that the sum thus arrived at would be properly expressed as 140.20 billion “1912” dollars. As a matter of record, the Bureau of the Census estimated it to be 187.74 billion “1912” dollars. The difference between our cautious estimate and the Census findings is 47.54 billion “1912” dollars which we can cheerfully credit to extra-effort. This, if divided equally between the 12 years, shows an apparent enhancement of surplus amounting to 3.96 billion “1912” dollars per annum, or 4.47 per cent of our 1900 capital which, as stated above, was 88.52 billion “1900” dollars.
To estimate what we are worth in terms of “1918” dollars let us project these very approximate figures. We start anew, at any rate, upon the comparatively firm basis of the Bureau of the Census’ figures of total wealth for 1912, namely, 187.74 billion “1912” dollars. Our population in 1918 was 104.18 million, an increase of 8.84 million over the total of 95.34 million, or 9.27 per cent. Following the same procedure as before, we may increase our 1912 wealth by this factor, bringing our amended total up to 205.14 billion “1912” dollars. But the “1918” dollar was only 101⁄196 of the value of the
- ↑ “Wholesale Prices 1890 to 1919,” page 15. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D. C., 1921.
