> AFAICT was in place for ~80 years

Sure, but it wasn't $800 for 80 years: the $800 change happened in 2016... the threshold was $200 from 2016-1994, starting at $1 (and tapering up) in 1938.

So it looks like there are 4 distinct spans in the past [0] where a nominal value kept getting decayed by inflation. To put them here with inflation-adjusted 2025 dollars in parens:

* 1938 to 1977: $1 ($22 -> $5.43)

* 1978 to 1992: $5 ($25 -> $11.50)

* 1993 to 2014: $200 ($446 -> $272)

* 2015 to 2025: $800 ($1087 -> $800)

* 2026 to ????: $0 ($0 -> $0)

The point I'd like to make from this is that Americans under 50 weren't adults-with-money in time to ever encounter those older more-restrictive spans. If you're under 28, the highest-exemption is the only situation they've ever known until now.

[0] https://www.brookings.edu/articles/small-parcels-big-problem...