It's also interesting to study prices in different regions at different time periods. I'm currently reading a book on the San Francisco during the Gold Rush to get a better understanding of the reasons why my ancestor came here. Prices were incredibly inflated, with tent saloons renting for thousands of dollars per month, eggs costing a dollar each and so forth. We suspect that my ancestor was considering exporting goods from his father's iron foundry to San Francisco, where things like shovels and picks were selling for top dollar.
