Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Inflation in the 30th century (per Adventure Comics)

While digging through old Adventure Legion letter columns for EDE's "Bits of Legionnaire Business" thread, I stumbled upon this gem, which warrants sharing:

Dear Editor: In the Legion story about Bouncing Boy, (Note: this letter refers to Adventure Comics #301, "The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy") you show him buying a bottle of soda pop which cost fifty cents? Isn't that kind of expensive? - Ronald Berglind, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The editor responded: Obviously, inflation during the coming centuries will have zoomed the price of soda pop. Hot dogs at the Yankee Stadium used to cost 10 cents when Babe Ruth was a player, cost 25 cents today. Besides this soda pop was a special brand, imported from another planet, hence the increased cost.

Extracted from Adventure #304, January 1963

They had no freakin' idea!! I wish sodas were only 50 cents, the way I put them away! Hey, where are all the flying cars and alien dignitaries of the U.P.?

50 cents? Chuck's lucky it didn't cost 50 bucks!

But what would Chuck know about inflation anyway?

Just goes to show - you probably don't want to know the future...

There could have been one hell of a deflationary collapse in the 30th century, or the money was seriously devalued to come up with that price. Or a whole new monetary system was in place with "cents" taking on a meaning/value unrelated to our concept.

Most likely, given the Earth's economic history so far, there will have been a series of booms and busts, inflationary and deflationary cycles. There has been reference in Legion stories to a number of world wars on Earth (are they up to VII? should probably be CVII) and some major, interplanetary conflagration in the 27th (?) century that wiped out a lot of technology.

I don't know when the writers switched to the more contemporary (and vague) "credits". It is a bit jarring to see something so specifically 20th century in a futuristic story - I wonder what we're reading now that will seem equally out of place in 20 years.

Why, I bet Penny candy costs a dollar in the Legion's time! Outrageous!!!!

Well, Lester, that's certainly how I feel at this moment - but I'm not running off and disappearing for 40 years or whatever it's been since we last saw you.

I bet the soda cost 50 UP cents, the 31st century's version of the euro.

Good point rhino, and thanks for digging up this old thread. T'was fortuitous, as I bought a 12 pack of Mt Dew at the grocery store yesterday, and it was advertised at $4.00!!! Four bucks??? Like that's supposed to be a good value??? OMG!!!! What happened to skyrocket the price of soda in the past couple of months???

I'm starting to feel like an old man, complaining about how little things used to cost... If I ever say, "When I was a boy..." somebody please tazer me!

In my day, we didn't have tazers!

While inflation increases prices, it's not unheard of for countries, when inflation has reached a certain level, to chop a couple of zeros off.

So it was 50c in 30th century money, but it would take $65046.05 of 1950s US money (converted to modern money at the Bank of Earth, of course, since no shop would accept it) to buy that one bottle!

I remember when there was proper complaining on the internet. Not hateful, whining but proper criticism like we had back when I was a lad, back in ancient Gr...ZAAAPPP

Sorry, everyone, I just stepped away from the keyboard and some old guy started typing n it. That tazer sure came in handy though.

The Legion's cents are probably called that as a tribute to the old style money. Probably have no relation at all to a continuous economy. I think humanity was going through one of it's nostalgia phases in the 30th century, where everything old was better. It probably influenced the conditions for the Legion to form in the first place.

Next month in the Legion: Gates leads the espionage squad in an attack on the Silverale cola company and their illegal sweatshops on Rann.