[_bpo]

Tangential, but why do people write things like "even after adjusting for inflation" when discussing long timespans (40 years in this case)?

Is there any reason to not adjust for inflation? The "even..." in the sentence suggests that the author is being liberal with potential critics when it would seem only rudimentary to acknowledge inflation when discussing a 40-year timespan. A typical (new) car cost ~$4.5k in 1977 in the US....

[Tenoke]

Because news articles often don't adjust for it when making their arguments, and savvy readers are used to thinking "yeah, this argument only sounds right because they don't adjust for inflation".

[nabla9]

It's a common idiom used when writing for general audience. Distinction between real and nominal is not at all clear to the public.

[petters]

I agree but I think it is just a way to explicitly state that this adjustment was performed and not forgotten.

Better would be:

"Per student spending has increased about 2.5x in the past forty years (after adjusting for inflation)."

[venomsnake]

> Is there any reason to not adjust for inflation?

Lies, damned lies and statistics. It is easier to mislead if you don't adjust.