Did you know that cotton costs the same today as it did 150 years ago? Think about that statement for a moment.

Now try to make a list of products that are still as inexpensive as they were when guys like James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson called 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home.

When we first read about this in an Associated Press story, it got us thinking. What would it have cost to live during that time, and what would cotton cost today if it had been adjusted for inflation like other products?

Back in the day when politicians were more concerned with deaths on Civil War battlefields than reigning in healthcare premiums, a routine doctor's visit would've set you back just $2. That wouldn't even come close to covering the $30 co-pay for an annual checkup nowadays.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. A new house in Brooklyn ran about $2,500 back then, instead of $450,000 today—and that's after the real estate market collapsed.

And if you wanted to venture out of that new house to do a little shopping in the City, you could pick up a new suit for $10, a shiny pair of designer shoes for 98 cents, and even catch an opera for a buck. Try buying a single drink at a New York bar for that much today.

Of course this is all comparative. A soldier earned $15 a month in 1865—a wage that most babysitters can make in one hour of watching TV today.

Then there's the cotton used to sew that new suit—whether it cost $10 in the 1800s or $1,000 today.

Cotton was selling back then for the same amount of money that it's selling for today—about $1.35 per pound. Had cotton prices kept pace with inflation like most other consumer goods, a fair price today would be closer to $23 per pound.

Cotton is not alone. Sugar and wheat farmers have come under attack lately for prices that are about where they were 40 years ago.

To put it into perspective, consider this: Back in the '70s, a person could climb into a $5,000 new car and head over to the movie theater to check out the premiere of "The Godfather" for $1. And if the price of drinks were too expensive in the theater, you could always swing by the grocery store to pick up a 24-pack of pop for the same amount it costs you to buy one bottle from a vending machine nowadays.

In a century and a half, we've traded "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" for Lady Gaga—yet cotton prices remain the same. And the last four decades have seen a transition from Kung Fu Fighting to Fearless but-you guessed it-sugar and wheat prices stay put.

The bottom line is this: times really change, but crop prices—though they will ebb and flow—don't move that much.

How is this possible? Because over the years farmers boosted their productivity through new seed varieties and modernized field equipment. It's just too bad for farmers that those inputs get more and more expensive, so the race to boost productivity must continue.

As consumers, we have benefitted immensely from these developments and yet, seem to take for granted that some things never change.

http://www.thehandthatfeedsus.org/farming_america_Nice-Jeans-President-Lincoln.cfm