When 1984 was written in the 40s the economics of car ownership were very different.
Great post on this: “Why Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car”
https://www.fullstackeconomics.com/p/why-agatha-christie-cou...
Great post on this: “Why Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car”
https://www.fullstackeconomics.com/p/why-agatha-christie-cou...
“In 1919, Ford’s Model T cost £170—around $12,000 in 2022 dollars. So a car was worth about three months of income for the Christie family—but almost five years of income for their maid!”
3 months salary was clearly an affordable if major expenses, so this was more a question of prioritization. A maid making the equivalent of 200$/month sounds incredibly low a mere 100 years ago, but would actually be a competitive salary in many cities today.
But it was being brought up right after mention of the 1940s, implying some explanatory power for that decade.
However, if 1984 was written in say 1900 the lack of cars wouldn’t have signified anything.
Amazing. In real terms, entry-level cars have doubled in price. We could use a new Henry Ford.
In Japan you can get a brand new Suzuki Alto for $8000. And it even has a 7-inch touch screen with CarPlay support. But you wouldn't want to get into a crash with one of those on a U.S. highway.
Ultra cheap new cars do show up in emerging markets where decent used cars are in short supply.