Nostalgia used to be better

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

The good old days might not be as wonderful as dimming memories make them out to be.

The Consumers' Institute has had a look at whether we were better off 30 years ago and the answer is - not necessarily.

A check on a range of goods found most are more affordable now than they were then. Prices have risen but wages have risen faster.

The average weekly wage 30 years ago ago was $86; it is now $649.

"People have a great propensity to look back with nostalgia on what used to be," said Consumers' Institute chief executive David Russell.

In lighthearted fashion, his organisation decided to do a comparison. It seems attitudes and tastes have changed almost as much as prices.

One switch was in how much more expensive housing has become and how much more affordable electrical and home appliances are.

"Lots of things have changed in 30 years," said Mr Russell. "There is a big shift in some of the food items you used to buy and go home, prepare and cook. Now there are far more pre-prepared foods."

And products which were once luxuries that had to be carefully saved for are now more freely available.

No longer did New Zealanders have to put their names on a waiting list to buy a new car. "You just have to ring any dealer and they will fall over themselves to set you up."

Prices were far more regulated 30 years ago. The Government set milk and cream prices, and maximum markups for other food.

Eating out appears to be more affordable as well as more frequent. Antoine's in Parnell charged $2 for soup and $5.95 for the top main course when it opened in 1973.

In today's dollars, that works out at $17.39 and $51.74. Today's menu has French onion soup for $18 and roast duckling for $44.

Three decades ago the big sensation was the arrival of colour television, when a 26-inch TV cost the equivalent of $5533 today.

And you would probably have needed cash. There were no interest-free offers, and hire purchase deals charged 18 to 25 per cent interest.

And the electricity those cheap appliances use is much more expensive - many modern-day power bills are double or treble what we were paying in 1974.

* Houses: The average house price in 1973 was $15,532, or $135,056 in today's dollars. But today's average house price is more than $229,000. A section in 1974 was worth $4417 (just under $40,000 in current dollars); now the average price is $102,423.

If you bought a beachfront section in Pauanui on the Coromandel coast in the early 1970s you would probably have paid $9000. Now it could sell for more than $1 million.

* Travel: An economy ticket for a return flight between Wellington and Sydney cost $209 in 1974, equivalent to around $1760 in today's dollars. Today, a typical Air New Zealand smart saver return fare is about $456 and some are as low as $300.

Domestic flights are also cheaper. A Napier to Auckland return airfare cost $48.50 30 years ago works, $408.50 in today's money. An Air NZ

smart saver return fare for that trip now costs $162.

* Taxes: We paid a lot more tax in the 1970s. The top marginal income tax rate was 50 per cent, applying to each dollar earned over $12,000 a year. Now, the top rate is 39 per cent, and it applies only to income of more than $60,000.

Even death was taxed. If your estate was worth more than $12,000, the Government generally collected estate duty ranging between seven and 40 per cent, depending on how much the estate was worth.

The big one was the property speculation tax. If you bought and sold a property within six months, you could lose 90 per cent of your profit. Less than 24 months and you'd be stung for at least 60 per cent.

And no, the sun did not always shine in the good old days.