What does that mean? Obviously, you need more US dollars today to purchase food than you did in 1950, due to inflation. Does "real dollar terms" mean adjusted for inflation?
"real dollars" means something like "percentage of disposable income".
Also it's impossible to make a meaningful comparison of things you buy for money today compared to things that were bought for money two hundred years ago. Back then a lot more people grew their own food, for example. And they didn't work for software startups and buy all their tech equipment from minimum wage factories in China.
Yes, basically. "Real dollars" are dollars adjusted for inflation.
I think it's a little more precise than just saying "inflation-adjusted dollars" because when people hear that, they automatically assume "adjusted using CPI," which is only one way to try and correct for inflation. It's a reasonably well-accepted way, but there are others. (E.g.: labor-hours are popular in some circles.)
Also it's impossible to make a meaningful comparison of things you buy for money today compared to things that were bought for money two hundred years ago. Back then a lot more people grew their own food, for example. And they didn't work for software startups and buy all their tech equipment from minimum wage factories in China.