Scouting Inflation

Boy Scouts

The summer I was thirteen, I was a Boy Scout “machine”.  I was in a hurry; a hurry to get my Eagle Scout Award.  There were five us all working in Troop 229 in Kettering, Ohio. We all had the goal of getting Eagle by Christmas – and getting the Award all at the same time.  

Looking back, we were all in a rush, perhaps too much so.  When you’re moving that fast through the Scouting program, you’re definitely going to miss some things along the way.  At my “Board of Review”, when adults I didn’t know examined my qualifications for Scouting’s highest youth Award, the first words out of one of the evaluators, was, “You’re too young for Eagle”.  I must have been a budding politician then, as I still managed to convince him, and the others, into voting for my application.   

Moving through the ranks of Scouting – Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and Eagle, is mostly a matter of passing qualifications.  For the last three those qualifications come in the form of Merit Badges. At the time it took twenty-one to earn the Eagle Award.  They tested everything from Camping, Canoeing and Swimming, to First Aid and Emergency Preparedness, to Citizenship in the Community, Nation and World .

Service Project

But Eagle was special – and it required a special service project, something of value to the community.  And the service project wasn’t just about doing work.  The real test of the project was in the organization.  Finding a good cause, getting help, materials, and planning out the project were just as important as the completion itself.  My project wasn’t some of the incredible constructions I hear about today. Nor was it some highly developed social media effort (social media consisted of phone calls back in 1970).  It was fairly simple:  there was a group home for adults with mental handicaps, and it needed to be cleaned up and painted.  

So I got my four friends on the “Eagle Trail”, organized all of the equipment and paint, and we spent a weekend making the home look a lot more “homey”.  It was an experience:  ladders and wasp nests, chipping and second coats – but we got it done.  And at the end of the first day I took my buddies out to dinner at the “new” hamburger place, McDonalds.  

Big Mac Meals

All five of us were starving.  It was Big Mac’s and Fries, chocolate shakes and probably some extras as well.  I was a little surprised at the price, more than I expected, and I think I had to hit up my Dad for a couple of extra bucks.  The total bill was FIVE dollars.

Five dollars – seemed like a lot of money in those days.  Five dollars could fill five teenagers’ stomachs after a hard, hot day of working on the Home.  Just five dollars – in 1970 that would buy twenty gallons of gasoline, more than four gallons of milk, and twenty POUNDS of bread.  

What will FIVE dollars get you at McDonalds today?  A “number one” value meal:  Big Mac, Fries, and a drink, costs $7.60.  That’s for one.  So to feed those five “starving” teens today, it’s closer to $40.00 (Menu and Price).

Value of a Dollar

What’s changed?  So probably not the Big Mac, or the Fries, or the Cokes from the fountain (though the fountain may be “electronic” and require advanced computer training to pour).  What changed is the value of the money used to pay for those items, the “value” of the dollar.

And the value of a dollar is based on the “supply” of dollars versus the “demand”.  Not to be too simplistic, but the “demand” for money is pretty consistent – everybody wants it, everybody needs it, and everybody will spend it (in one form or another). 

 So the “demand” side isn’t such a big deal – even in the pandemic Americans have managed to spend money.  Look at the success of Amazon, or try to buy furniture, or find someone to do home remodeling.  We have been stuck at home, and if we have money, then our homes are often looking a lot better.

National Debt and Inflation

The United States government often spends more money than it raises in taxes, fees, and other income.  That “deficit” spending is “funded” by the government borrowing the money.  That “borrowing” includes selling bonds, simple promises to “pay Tuesday for the money today”.  Back in 1970, the US Government owed $370 billion, mostly driven by Cold and Vietnam War spending.  

At the end of the Trump Administration, the US Government owes about $27 trillion.  That’s seventy-three times higher than when I was thirteen.  But the relative value of the “dollar” in terms of Big Macs, is only one-seventh (it takes seven times more dollars to buy it).  And while the debt has almost doubled in the past decade, the Big Mac Value meal increased by less than a dollar.  So we can conclude – at least on the “Big Mac” scale – that while rising costs are linked to the National debt – there isn’t a dollar-to-dollar relationship.

Biden’s Proposals

It the US Government decided to “pay-off” ALL student debt, it would cost $1.7 trillion.  Assuming that it’s not paid for by additional taxes, it would increase the National Debt but six percent.  By the way, that’s almost exactly how much the Trump Administration “gave back” in their big tax cut in 2017.  Joe Biden’s COVID relief package costs $1.9 trillion, just a bit over a seven percent debt increase.  

So when we hear Republicans and some moderate Democrats all of a sudden worried about the impact of spending on the National Debt and inflation, remember that they didn’t seem too worried about that in the Trump Administration, when the National Debt went up 26%, from $20 trillion to $26 trillion (The Balance).  Hard to imagine that it’s NOW, that a couple of more trillion will make “all the difference” and drive us to dramatic inflation.

But their anguished worries make good sounds bites – especially when the programs are benefitting the lower income Americans instead of the top one percent windfall of the Trump tax cut.

Eagle Ceremony

In November of 1970, five Boy Scouts were awarded the Eagle Rank at Southdale Elementary School in Kettering.  Dad managed WLW-D in Dayton, so we got television news coverage and everything (there’s even an old reel of 16mm film around).  And just because five Scouts earned the rank at once, it didn’t “inflate” the Eagle Ranks, nor did it “devalue” the influence of the award.  It’s been on my resume every since.  And the tarnished Eagle medal still is in the top drawer of my dresser.