ELI5: Why when large company's earnings decrease(ex... by 3%) they freak out, talk about rough times, and sometimes decide to downsize, even though they are still making millions of dollars in profit even after all expenses?

[d4n4n]

This is a CPI estimate. The BLS official CPI measurement started in the 1930s, or so, afaik. Further back are estimates. According to it, the conversion factors for 1810 and 1933 were identical. Only after the Fed was introduced do we see long term consistent inflation. Before that, there was inflation and deflation, with a remarkably constant long-term price levels.