Good observation. I wondered why the word ‘inflation’ wasn’t in the title, or a major section heading.
Inflation seems to be so much higher than the official numbers. Admitting the real inflation rate would cause problems for the government so they don’t admit it.
I made a nice salad for dinner the other night and joked with my wife that two basic dinner salads might cost $30 in a restaurant now. Then I realized that it was not really a joke, that restaurant prices have gone way up, and a friend who owns a large restaurant told be that food and other operating costs are causing problems for his business.
The real crisis will come when the real purchasing power of pensions, 401K disbursements, and social security stop being anywhere near enough for a decent life.
It's not really about "inflation" in general, but about certain areas in particular. Inflation as measured by the consumer price index has actually been fairly moderate for well over a decade; it's actually below the target inflation rate of 2% most of the time.
The article is about certain components that are rising faster than inflation. Housing and medical care are included in the CPI[1], but perhaps they should be weighted higher. (Shelter is around 30%, medical care 8%). Things like student loans don't figure into that at all: tuition costs do, but not the accumulated weight of servicing the loans. The weights are kind of an interesting read.
A lot of it is about the way it impacts people disproportionately. The inflation number lumps a lot of things into one average, but a lot of costs hit specific people and don't affect others. If you don't have child care costs or student loans, you are probably enjoying the soaring economy. But those who do are getting hammered.
All of those (housing, health care and child care) also suffer for excessive government meddling that prevents the free market from allowing proper competition.
Sorry, but we have the MOST free market in the developed world when it comes to healthcare and it drives costs up. The free market is great for some things, but it's not the panacea that people think it is.
We have a legally entrenched doctors guild with a government granted monopoly on their profession. We have patents granting monopolies on chemicals and devices. This is not a free market. We have zoning laws granting landlords a monopoly on housing supply. Again, not free. All the modern equivalent of royal patents allowing the population to be farmed by the professions and the landed classes without competition. Hardly laissez-faire.
If the free market is the key to a better healthcare system then it should happen in degrees. A more free market should be more affordable than a less free market. Instead we have the most free healthcare market being the most expensive healthcare system. The is the opposite of what should be expected if your hypothesis was true.
Every other developed nation has much more government control over its health care system, and much lower costs.
Also, you say "We have a legally entrenched doctors guild with a government granted monopoly on their profession" So are you saying that we would all be better off if anyone who wanted could call themselves a medical doctor? And if that is not what you advocate, then what is your specific plan?
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 18.1 ms ] threadInflation seems to be so much higher than the official numbers. Admitting the real inflation rate would cause problems for the government so they don’t admit it.
I made a nice salad for dinner the other night and joked with my wife that two basic dinner salads might cost $30 in a restaurant now. Then I realized that it was not really a joke, that restaurant prices have gone way up, and a friend who owns a large restaurant told be that food and other operating costs are causing problems for his business.
The real crisis will come when the real purchasing power of pensions, 401K disbursements, and social security stop being anywhere near enough for a decent life.
The article is about certain components that are rising faster than inflation. Housing and medical care are included in the CPI[1], but perhaps they should be weighted higher. (Shelter is around 30%, medical care 8%). Things like student loans don't figure into that at all: tuition costs do, but not the accumulated weight of servicing the loans. The weights are kind of an interesting read.
A lot of it is about the way it impacts people disproportionately. The inflation number lumps a lot of things into one average, but a lot of costs hit specific people and don't affect others. If you don't have child care costs or student loans, you are probably enjoying the soaring economy. But those who do are getting hammered.
[1] https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2016.pdf
Also, you say "We have a legally entrenched doctors guild with a government granted monopoly on their profession" So are you saying that we would all be better off if anyone who wanted could call themselves a medical doctor? And if that is not what you advocate, then what is your specific plan?
That 37% has to come from somewhere.