SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Type VII -- How much is it?

Lokisaga · 05-13-13, 04:25 AM

Ask a simple question, get a wall of text,
Great question. I found a paper by a USN Commander that discusses this: http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87...campaigns.html. In the appendix he states that Type VII's were $2.25 million each at the time they were being built. By comparison, the same papers states a USN fleet submarine cost $3.3 million during the same time period. I've heard other figures around $2.25 million, so I'm inclined to believe this is correct.

How much this translates into in equivalent purchasing power today is difficult to determine because the global economy was so different then. For starters, the war caused massive disruptions to production, labor, and trade which skewed currency values, wages, and inflation in ways that make economists cry. Secondly, the very idea of a global economy was just coming into being at this time and it was not very popular. Most nations had responded to the numerous panics and financial collapses of the 20's and 30's by engaging in protectionism (trading internationally as little as possible) and artificially setting the values of their currencies in ways that are no longer done (usually declaring them to worth a certain amount of gold). Finally, there was just so much less capital, labor, and goods in the world at that time that any attempt to convert to today's dollars would be, in my opinion, meaningless. If you're really looking for a VERY rough approximation I would say $2.25 million in 1939-1945 would be equal in purchasing power to $28-36 million today. This is based on federal minimum wage increases and inflation rates.

05-13-13, 04:25 AM	#3
Lokisaga Seaman Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 39 Downloads: 23 Uploads: 0	Ask a simple question, get a wall of text, Great question. I found a paper by a USN Commander that discusses this: http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87...campaigns.html. In the appendix he states that Type VII's were $2.25 million each at the time they were being built. By comparison, the same papers states a USN fleet submarine cost $3.3 million during the same time period. I've heard other figures around $2.25 million, so I'm inclined to believe this is correct. How much this translates into in equivalent purchasing power today is difficult to determine because the global economy was so different then. For starters, the war caused massive disruptions to production, labor, and trade which skewed currency values, wages, and inflation in ways that make economists cry. Secondly, the very idea of a global economy was just coming into being at this time and it was not very popular. Most nations had responded to the numerous panics and financial collapses of the 20's and 30's by engaging in protectionism (trading internationally as little as possible) and artificially setting the values of their currencies in ways that are no longer done (usually declaring them to worth a certain amount of gold). Finally, there was just so much less capital, labor, and goods in the world at that time that any attempt to convert to today's dollars would be, in my opinion, meaningless. If you're really looking for a VERY rough approximation I would say $2.25 million in 1939-1945 would be equal in purchasing power to $28-36 million today. This is based on federal minimum wage increases and inflation rates.