Purchasing power

Now that I mentioned Buzzr yesterday, I happened to be watching a Match Game '75 ep on the diginet today. A guy maxed out on a round and won $5,600. ($100 for the front game, $500 for the top prize in the audience match, and $5,000 for matching Richard Dawson on "Dragon FLY.")

I've whined here and there about the shrinking value of cash prizes over the decades. As it happens, the government - having engineered all those years of relentless inflation - has now provided a helpful "inflation calculator." Sweet of them. You can learn how much your money has shrunk over time.

By an odd coincidence, the max prize in this February, 1975 ep of Match Game was worth about $26,000 in today's dollars. Which happens to be not far from the max amount on ABC's current version of the show.

Needless to say but I'll say it anyway, prizes on other shows haven't always kept pace with inflation. One of the most glaring examples is the pity five-dollars-a-point for contestants who bomb on Family Feud's fast money round. Come on, guys, spring for a few extra dollars.

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