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Buying power still goes up as time goes by. In 1900. The dollar was worhtt 20xs what it does today. However the average income was less than $500 or about $10,000 today. The average peson's paycheck couldn't carry them as far as today. Printing money won't make anyone richer, but creating new wealth does
Average Income in the United States Visualizing Economics
I'm not sure about 1900. I do know that my hourly wage in 1963 was the cost of 10 gallons of gasoline at that time, and that was for unskilled labor. I can also remember making $10,000 as a beginning teacher in '70 and buying a house for $13,000, or 1.3 x my annual pay.
That would have to translate to around $27 per hour for that college kid working in a sawmill I used to be in '63, or a beginning teacher making $40 grand or so buying a house for $52,000.
I'm not so sure average wages have kept up with inflation over the past 45 years or so.