Oil: All Time High in Real Dollars

Oil reached a historic high near $104 a barrel Monday, surpassing the inflation-adjusted level of the 1980s, as a weakening dollar made crude futures attractive to investors.

U.S. crude for April delivery hit $103.95 a barrel in early trading before easing to settle at $102.45 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 61 cents for the day.

Crude has now passed what many analysts consider to be the previous record high - $103.76 when adjusted for inflation, set in early 1980 - following the Iranian Revolution. The record high is a bit subjective however - ranging from about $93 to over $103 - depending on the contract cited and the inflation calculation used.

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Gold Prices: Real v. Nominal

Since mid-August, New York gold futures have risen more than 42%. After finishing down at the early-afternoon close yesterday, they shot above Monday's record of $927.10 in later electronic trading...

Investors from Wall Street to Main Street are betting on what had long been a losing investment. After hitting $847 an ounce in January 1980, gold futures fell for almost 20 years, grinding down to $253 in August 1999, a 70% drop. Gold remained dull until 2001. Prices have more than tripled since then, but didn't exceed the 1980 record until this year...

To keep pace with inflation going back to 1980, gold futures would need to be above $2,228 today. Believers see that as a sign that gold has a lot of room to rise, and predict it will surpass the $1,000 mark this year.

from the WSJ

Despite begin in "record" territory, gold still has a long way to go to hit a true record.

Cost of War: New Updated Data

HISTORICAL COSTS OF U.S. WARS (In 2007 Dollars)

World War II	$3.2 trillion
Iraq and Afghanistan To Date	$695.7 billion
Vietnam War	$670 billion
World War I	$364 billion
Korean War	$295 billion
Persian Gulf War	$94 billion
Civil War (both Union and Confederate costs)	$81 billion
Spanish-American War	$7 billion
American Revolution	$4 billion
Mexican War	$2 billion
War of 1812	$1 billion
Source: Congressional Research Service and Office of Management and Budget data.

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I would have that the Civil War would have been higher on the list.