Why do things cost so much?

Scott Alexander, a physician in the Midwest, points out on his blog that during the past 50 years—

• U.S. housing costs have increased about 50 percent.
• U.S. education costs have increased 100 percent
• U.S. college costs have increased 400 percent.
• U.S. subway fares have increased 400 percent or more.

All of this is adjusted for inflation.

• Health care in the United States costs about four times as much as equivalent health care in other First World countries
• U.S. subways costs about eight times as much as equivalent subways on other First World countries.

The wages and salaries of public school teachers, college professors, nurses and physicians has meanwhile remained relatively flat.

As Alexander points out, this is strange.