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I came across a 2015 study by The Commonwealth Fund that shows the Americans spend more on health care, use more medical technology and take more prescription drugs than citizens of most peer nations, but aren’t necessarily more healthy.
We’re not the worst in this respect, but we’re far from the best.
The charts above and below tell the story. I doubt things have changed much since 2013.
Double click to enlarge
This chart shows how the cost of different necessities and amenities of life have changed over the past 75 years.
The high and rising costs of housing stands out, but the cost of health care and education also are going steadily up.
I’d guess the falling cost of food is due to technology and the falling cost of clothing is due to globalization.
But why hasn’t technology brought down the cost of housing and transportation?
LINKS
Unprecedented Spending Trends in America, in One Chart, by howmuch. Remember that the figures are adjusted for inflation.
Considerations on Cost Disease by Scott Alexander for Slate Star Codex.
I’m old enough to remember when a personal computer or even a television set were so expensive than an average person couldn’t afford it. But nowadays second-hand television sets and electronic gadgets are so cheap that hardly anybody does without them.
The things that are increasingly out of reach are child care, health care and education — the things you need to rise in the world. The things that are affordable are the games, toys and entertainment that distract you from your condition and reconcile you to the limited life that you have.
Click on Why America’s Essentials Are Getting More Expensive While Its Toys Are Getting Cheaper for more by Derek Thompson for The Atlantic.
Click on How the Middle Class Lifestyle Become Unaffordable for thoughts of Charles Hugh Smith. One factor I failed to note in my original post is Baumol’s Disease, which is that as technology makes manufactured goods cheaper, the costs of human services become relatively more expensive. [Added 5/7/14]
