SortStack #2796 — 2034-02-03

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. Manhattan Island, as the Dutch paid for it (in goods, at the famous valuation) $24

   The Dutch paid 60 guilders in trade goods in 1626 — a sum 19th-century historians famously converted to about $24. Manhattan real estate is now worth well over a trillion.

2. A brand-new Toyota Corolla $23K

   With over 50 million sold since 1966, the Corolla is the best-selling car nameplate in history — one has been sold roughly every 30 seconds for decades.

3. An average American wedding $33K

   The single biggest line item is usually the venue. Meanwhile the median engagement ring, despite the marketing, costs a fraction of the 'three months salary' rule.

4. The average new car in the United States $48K

   The average new-car price has nearly doubled since 2010, driven by buyers abandoning sedans for loaded SUVs and trucks.

5. The entire Apollo Moon program, in the dollars of its day $25.4B

   At its peak, Apollo employed about 400,000 people and consumed more than 4% of the US federal budget — per landing, each Moon mission cost less than a modern aircraft carrier.

6. Activision Blizzard, when Microsoft bought it $68.7B

   The biggest gaming acquisition ever took nearly two years to close as regulators on three continents scrutinized it — the UK initially blocked it outright.

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