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Of course you're right that the accepted measures of inflation would have already considered and addressed the issue. And I would guess that fundamentals like f

Of course you're right that the accepted measures of inflation would have already considered and addressed the issue. And I would guess that fundamentals like food and land/housing have indeed gotten more expensive. I'm a little intrigued though: shouldn't technological progress and "accelerating returns" have made things cheaper? I do see for land, that location is a monopoly ("they aren't making any more" - at least, in that spot, in that community, with that access). I wonder how much similar market effects have "artificially" kept other prices high? An oligopoly or silent collusion/combination between sellers (e.g. as happened for flat TVs). Also, I wonder if a different lifestyle is possible, leaning more heavily on those aspects that have gotten cheaper (one e.g. living remotely and working remotely or independently). Anyway, I'm glad you agreed with my other points, I'm assuming.

loeg 10y ago
> And I would guess that fundamentals like food and land/housing have indeed gotten more expensive. > > I'm a little intrigued though: shouldn't technological progress and "accelerating returns" have made things cheaper? I do see for land, that location is a monopoly ("they aren't making any more" - at least, in that spot, in that community, with that access). Healthcare and education costs have increased hugely, housing costs moderately (moreso in the big cities). Overall inflation is somewhat offset by food and electronics getting much cheaper. > I wonder how much similar market effects have "artificially" kept other prices high? An oligopoly or silent collusion/combination between sellers (e.g. as happened for flat TVs). The healthcare marketplace is pretty terrible. Perverse incentives, no pricing transparency, etc is at least part of rapidly increasing costs. Oddly education has gotten much more expensive as well, including K-12, and there doesn't seem to be an obvious reason there. > Also, I wonder if a different lifestyle is possible, leaning more heavily on those aspects that have gotten cheaper (one e.g. living remotely and working remotely or independently). Yeah. If you can swing a remote tech job living in a low or moderate cost of living area, you can save enough to retire (in that LCOL location) in a couple years. It can really be single digit years if you can keep your saving rate above 90%.
- hyperpallium 10y ago
  Interesting, it's a bit different here in Australia, we have free healthcare, free education and incredibly high house prices (eg ordinary house in suburbs > $1 million; 2br unit almost $0.5 million). Of course, those first two aren't actually "free" and eg drug prices can be very high. Patented drugs are at least something new - you're getting better tech, enhancing or even saving your life, to an extent previously impossible. The "standard" cost of drugs increases with our expectations, but also their true value. Inflation measures mightn't account for this. eg basics like aspirin and ibuprofen are dirt cheap these days. House and education prices are above their actual utility; a bubble, an insidious monopoly, or something else. Isn;t educatiin high because it's a false ticket to a "good job"? i.e. people get it for that reason (not for the education itself, or for a market demand for that specific skillset/knowledge), but the jobs aren't there, so they double down. Demand for education exceeds supply so the price goes up. Yes, more places are made available to meet demand, but they lack the prestige (and network effects) of the top institutions... On it goes. Mightn't apply to K12 though (that's highschool I guess?). LCOL is it. BTW I used to want to retire, now I want to be able to work on projects. That's a subset, I guess.

loeg 10y ago

> And I would guess that fundamentals like food and land/housing have indeed gotten more expensive. > > I'm a little intrigued though: shouldn't technological progress and "accelerating returns" have made things cheaper? I do see for land, that location is a monopoly ("they aren't making any more" - at least, in that spot, in that community, with that access). Healthcare and education costs have increased hugely, housing costs moderately (moreso in the big cities). Overall inflation is somewhat offset by food and electronics getting much cheaper. > I wonder how much similar market effects have "artificially" kept other prices high? An oligopoly or silent collusion/combination between sellers (e.g. as happened for flat TVs). The healthcare marketplace is pretty terrible. Perverse incentives, no pricing transparency, etc is at least part of rapidly increasing costs. Oddly education has gotten much more expensive as well, including K-12, and there doesn't seem to be an obvious reason there. > Also, I wonder if a different lifestyle is possible, leaning more heavily on those aspects that have gotten cheaper (one e.g. living remotely and working remotely or independently). Yeah. If you can swing a remote tech job living in a low or moderate cost of living area, you can save enough to retire (in that LCOL location) in a couple years. It can really be single digit years if you can keep your saving rate above 90%.

hyperpallium 10y ago
Interesting, it's a bit different here in Australia, we have free healthcare, free education and incredibly high house prices (eg ordinary house in suburbs > $1 million; 2br unit almost $0.5 million). Of course, those first two aren't actually "free" and eg drug prices can be very high. Patented drugs are at least something new - you're getting better tech, enhancing or even saving your life, to an extent previously impossible. The "standard" cost of drugs increases with our expectations, but also their true value. Inflation measures mightn't account for this. eg basics like aspirin and ibuprofen are dirt cheap these days. House and education prices are above their actual utility; a bubble, an insidious monopoly, or something else. Isn;t educatiin high because it's a false ticket to a "good job"? i.e. people get it for that reason (not for the education itself, or for a market demand for that specific skillset/knowledge), but the jobs aren't there, so they double down. Demand for education exceeds supply so the price goes up. Yes, more places are made available to meet demand, but they lack the prestige (and network effects) of the top institutions... On it goes. Mightn't apply to K12 though (that's highschool I guess?). LCOL is it. BTW I used to want to retire, now I want to be able to work on projects. That's a subset, I guess.