3 ms·

There is some weird inflation going on over the last decade here in the US. The price of the "basket of goods and services" in total has remained relatively con

There is some weird inflation going on over the last decade here in the US. The price of the "basket of goods and services" in total has remained relatively constant - but the university student that needs housing and has heart attack would do well to search out a time-machine.

spekcular 5y ago
I agree there have been weird relative price increases. See for example this graphic: https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-past-20-years-2294.jpg https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-pas.... But this is not inflation. It's a completely different issue, with different causes and possible solutions.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > I agree there have been weird relative price increases. See for example this graphic: https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-past-20-years-2294.jpg https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-pas... > But this is not inflation. It's a completely different issue, with different causes and possible solutions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease
lamontcg 5y ago
Housing, Health Care and Education as profit seeking enterprises seem to expand to the point where they confiscate all the wealth of the average person. So we work in order to feed those enterprises. That kind of "inflation" is driven by the necessity of the product. There's also another kind of inflation which comes from the 1% having too much wealth and the shift in the Gini coefficient. That makes all the things that wealthy people buy much more expensive and leads to asset bubbles. So Housing (again) along with stocks, bonds (driving the evaporation of risk premiums), the whole financial sector and art and baseball cards.
- sershe 5y ago
  Interesting, why does profit seeking work for other necessities, like food (or pretty much anything really) but not in these 3 in particular (I would argue it also works fine in housing, if you take a median house). And how much housing do rich people really consume? What's special about housing, health care and education compared to say food, cosmetic surgery or tech is immense amount of govt meddling that both restricts supply and boosts demand. Everything from general regulatory burden to explicit things like zoning, certificates of need and healthcare subsidies, housing subsidies, etc. The results are predictable. Nothing whatsoever to do with profit seeking.
  - voisin 5y ago
    >but not in these 3 in particular I think barriers to entry. In other markets profits like in these 3 industries would lead to an influx of new entrants which would put compete away excess profits. But try opening a new hospital or school - years of work and regulations to fight, and new schools have a long uphill climb to achieve reputability. Housing is constructed by bullshit restrictive zoning.

spekcular 5y ago

I agree there have been weird relative price increases. See for example this graphic: https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-past-20-years-2294.jpg https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-pas.... But this is not inflation. It's a completely different issue, with different causes and possible solutions.

tablespoon 5y ago
> I agree there have been weird relative price increases. See for example this graphic: https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-past-20-years-2294.jpg https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/price-changes-in-usa-in-pas... > But this is not inflation. It's a completely different issue, with different causes and possible solutions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease

lamontcg 5y ago

Housing, Health Care and Education as profit seeking enterprises seem to expand to the point where they confiscate all the wealth of the average person. So we work in order to feed those enterprises. That kind of "inflation" is driven by the necessity of the product. There's also another kind of inflation which comes from the 1% having too much wealth and the shift in the Gini coefficient. That makes all the things that wealthy people buy much more expensive and leads to asset bubbles. So Housing (again) along with stocks, bonds (driving the evaporation of risk premiums), the whole financial sector and art and baseball cards.

sershe 5y ago
Interesting, why does profit seeking work for other necessities, like food (or pretty much anything really) but not in these 3 in particular (I would argue it also works fine in housing, if you take a median house). And how much housing do rich people really consume? What's special about housing, health care and education compared to say food, cosmetic surgery or tech is immense amount of govt meddling that both restricts supply and boosts demand. Everything from general regulatory burden to explicit things like zoning, certificates of need and healthcare subsidies, housing subsidies, etc. The results are predictable. Nothing whatsoever to do with profit seeking.
- voisin 5y ago
  >but not in these 3 in particular I think barriers to entry. In other markets profits like in these 3 industries would lead to an influx of new entrants which would put compete away excess profits. But try opening a new hospital or school - years of work and regulations to fight, and new schools have a long uphill climb to achieve reputability. Housing is constructed by bullshit restrictive zoning.