You can't get a Honda Civic for $4k now. And you couldn't get one for $1.9k in 1997 equivalent dollars[0]. Perhaps you're thinking second hand. And forget that a 35" Sony CRT-TV was $3.8k in 1997 (2x average sale), or a 42" plasma was $23k (more than 12x average sale). Not everyone bought/replaced a TV around the time.. continued with their 25" 1992 screen.. and they were smart if they survived until ~2005 when prices drastically shifted.
Right? I was there. My family had a tv. We didn't not spend the equivalent price of a honda civic on it.
You can't get a Honda Civic for $4k now. And you couldn't get one for $1.9k in 1997 equivalent dollars[0]. Perhaps you're thinking second hand. And forget that a 35" Sony CRT-TV was $3.8k in 1997 (2x average sale), or a 42" plasma was $23k (more than 12x average sale). Not everyone bought/replaced a TV around the time.. continued with their 25" 1992 screen.. and they were smart if they survived until ~2005 when prices drastically shifted.
[0]: https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2026?endYear=1997...
I'd like to present a newspaper insert from Circuit City in 1997 that advertised the televisions they offered: https://web.archive.org/web/20261025051358/https://i.ebayimg...
Front page at https://web.archive.org/web/20261025052016/https://i.ebayimg...
A 35-inch Sony TV was $1.4k, or ~$2.9k today.
25-inch GE sets were $219, or ~$458 today.
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