PURCHASING POWER OF FARM PRODUCTS. 
Unchangeable measures of length and weight are now in use, so that no further 
calculation is necessary after the inches, pounds, or grams are known, but there 
is no unchangeable measure of value. The value of gold itself changes and 
money itself follows the law of supply and demand. 
Probably the best measure of the general price level is the index number of 
wholesale prices of all commodities as given by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
(See Table II.) 
If the index number for the price of a particular farm product is compared 
with the index number of wholesale prices of all commodities, it is possible to 
determine whether or not the price is relatively high. The index numbers for 
each farm product are given in Table XVIII. If these are divided by the index 
numbers of wholesale prices as given on page 3, the purchasing power is obtained. 
If the purchasing power is 100, it means that the product can be exchanged for 
the usual quantity of other things. That is, if a farmer sold a given quantity of 
this product and used the money to buy all kinds of other commodities at whole- 
sale he would be able to buy the normal quantity. If the purchasing power 
is 50, it means that he would be able to buy half the normal amount. 
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