QUESTION: I’m trying to determine the actual value of 6 000 000 CAD$ of public debt in 1941. Since you have references for only US, UK, Australia and Spain, I figured relative output/economic cost for any of those nations does not work since it’s not relative to Canadian GDP. What do you suggest?
ANSWER: If the relevant data isn’t on MeasuringWorth, one has to look elsewhere, in this case Statistics Canada and the Historical Statistics of Canada, both of which are online. For example, if one looks at GNP at market prices, the ratio of that figure in 2018 to 1941 is roughly 200. Assuming the $6 mil Canadian public debt is a nominal figure, that compares to $1,200 million Canadian today. But, more to the point, if users identifies the measure(s) to use, then they need to find the relevant statistics for the chosen years and do the calculation themselves.