Question

3. Comparing salaries from different times

Consider golfers who led the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) in winnings at different points in time. Note that the winnings are nominal figures (unadjusted for inflation).

To convert the original earnings of Nelson, Nicklaus, and Pavin, use the formula for converting dollar figures from an earlier era into year 2000 U.S. dollars. Using those figures, fill in the following table, making sure to round your responses to the nearest U.S. dollar.

Year	Golfer	Nominal Winnings	U.S. CPI	Winnings in 2000 Dollars
		(Dollars)	(1983 = 100)
1945	Byron Nelson	63,336	18
1973	Jack Nicklaus	308,362	44.4
1991	Corey Pavin	979,430	136.2
2000	Tiger Woods	9,188,321	172.2	9,188,321

True or False: According to the previous table, the golfer with the highest PGA winnings in nominal dollars is the same as the golfer with the highest PGA winnings after adjusting for inflation.

True

False

Answer 1

Year	Golfer	Nominal Winnings	U.S. CPI	Winnings in 2000 Dollars
		(Dollars)	(1983 = 100)
1945	Byron Nelson	63,336	18	63336*172.2/18 = 605914
1973	Jack Nicklaus	308,362	44.4	308362*172.2/44.4 = 1195945
1991	Corey Pavin	979,430	136.2	979430*172.2/136.2 = 1238310
2000	Tiger Woods	9,188,321	172.2	9,188,321

True or False: According to the previous table, the golfer with the highest PGA winnings in nominal dollars is the same as the golfer with the highest PGA winnings after adjusting for inflation.

True because Tiger woods is still at the highest.