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One usually-not-mentioned premise is that even though goods’ costs have typically been going down over time as physical product technology improves, many servic

One usually-not-mentioned premise is that even though goods’ costs have typically been going down over time as physical product technology improves, many services (the majority of developed economies) are relatively unaffected by improvements in technology because they rely almost exclusively on labor. Rising inequality will make services more expensive to those on the poorer end. Poor people don’t struggle to get smart phones or food, they struggle to get daycare, medical care, education, etc.

tapatio 8y ago
I am pretty sure everyone, except for the 1%, struggle to get daycare, medical care, and education.
- groby_b 8y ago
  You might want to visit Europe at some point. That's a very specific US problem. (Europe's not problem-free, but access to daycare/medical care/education is much easier to obtain there)
  - igol 8y ago
    Sort of. It is probably better but if you don't have stable living conditions, which many people don't, that affects everything else. So you can say that people have access to daycare, but if you involuntarily have to move around a lot that is a real overall decrease in quality of that daycare.
- Kiro 8y ago
  Think outside your US bubble please. What you say is not even remotely true in most European countries.
- wutbrodo 8y ago
  Probably more like the top 10%.
petermcneeley 8y ago
Inequality dramatically matters in any realm where there is a finite resource. I do not comprehend how articles are written with the idea that relative wealth has no effect on prices.
war1025 8y ago
There was an interview I listened to once by a lady that grew up in the early 20th century. One of the things she said was, "I never dreamed I would be rich enough to own a car, or poor enough that I couldn't afford a servant" Labor has become vastly more expensive than it traditionally was, while physical goods have gotten much cheaper. (Housing excluded, obviously)
- ngngngng 8y ago
  How is this the case while the average wage has not even kept up with inflation?
  - st26 8y ago
    Well, consider you pay the dealership $80-120/hr for the mechanic's time, but the mechanic gets only $30-40 of that.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      The billed rate is not just for the mechanics time. It also has to cover the non billable support staff and other fixed costs. The dealership is not taking home $80 an hour.
  - TangoTrotFox 8y ago
    But they have, and then some. The datum you're referencing misses out on compensation as a whole. Compensation includes a wide array of factors such as insurance, paid time off, sick leave, and various other perks and benefits. This [1] is the graph you should be considering. That is Nonfarm Business Sector: Real Compensation Per Hour. And just to be completely clear "real" means that that graph is indeed inflation adjusted. "Nonfarm Business Sector" is defined as "a subset of the domestic economy and excludes the economic activities of the following: general government, private households, nonprofit organizations serving individuals, and farms. The nonfarm business sector accounted for about 77 percent of the value of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000." [1] - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB
  - 8y ago

tapatio 8y ago

I am pretty sure everyone, except for the 1%, struggle to get daycare, medical care, and education.

groby_b 8y ago
You might want to visit Europe at some point. That's a very specific US problem. (Europe's not problem-free, but access to daycare/medical care/education is much easier to obtain there)
- igol 8y ago
  Sort of. It is probably better but if you don't have stable living conditions, which many people don't, that affects everything else. So you can say that people have access to daycare, but if you involuntarily have to move around a lot that is a real overall decrease in quality of that daycare.
Kiro 8y ago
Think outside your US bubble please. What you say is not even remotely true in most European countries.
wutbrodo 8y ago
Probably more like the top 10%.

petermcneeley 8y ago

Inequality dramatically matters in any realm where there is a finite resource. I do not comprehend how articles are written with the idea that relative wealth has no effect on prices.

war1025 8y ago

There was an interview I listened to once by a lady that grew up in the early 20th century. One of the things she said was, "I never dreamed I would be rich enough to own a car, or poor enough that I couldn't afford a servant" Labor has become vastly more expensive than it traditionally was, while physical goods have gotten much cheaper. (Housing excluded, obviously)

ngngngng 8y ago
How is this the case while the average wage has not even kept up with inflation?
- st26 8y ago
  Well, consider you pay the dealership $80-120/hr for the mechanic's time, but the mechanic gets only $30-40 of that.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    The billed rate is not just for the mechanics time. It also has to cover the non billable support staff and other fixed costs. The dealership is not taking home $80 an hour.
- TangoTrotFox 8y ago
  But they have, and then some. The datum you're referencing misses out on compensation as a whole. Compensation includes a wide array of factors such as insurance, paid time off, sick leave, and various other perks and benefits. This [1] is the graph you should be considering. That is Nonfarm Business Sector: Real Compensation Per Hour. And just to be completely clear "real" means that that graph is indeed inflation adjusted. "Nonfarm Business Sector" is defined as "a subset of the domestic economy and excludes the economic activities of the following: general government, private households, nonprofit organizations serving individuals, and farms. The nonfarm business sector accounted for about 77 percent of the value of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000." [1] - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB
- 8y ago