A house in ounces

In 1975 a common US new-house figure was $35,000. Gold averaged about $161 that year. $35,000 ÷ $161 is roughly 217 ounces.

Those 217 ounces, at a live spot near $4,600, are about a million dollars. The house in dollars “soared.” The house in gold is a discussion about land, labour, and location — not a magic 30-fold rise in bricks.

This is the whole method. Take a real purchase. Take the year. Divide by the gold price then. Multiply by gold now if you want a paper comparison, or leave it in ounces if you want a unit that did not get printed.

Try it with your own place, or a car, or a year’s university. The ledger accepts any currency. The 10% test on each row asks a second question: if a tenth of that spending had been ounces instead, how much of the item would those ounces cover today?

It is an accounting identity, not a strategy. Houses still need roofs. Gold still has a price that moves. The point is to stop mixing up a shrinking yardstick with a growing house.