4 ms·

$16,500 per person is insane. Someone is charging way too much for goods and services, and someone is paying it with no questions asked.

downrightmike 4mo ago
The Seven-Times Markup: The Johns Hopkins study analyzed the nation's top 100 hospitals by revenue and found that their "chargemaster" prices (the initial sticker price) averaged 700% of the actual cost of providing the service. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/top-100-us-hospitals-charge-patients-7-times-their-actual-care-cost-study-shows/ https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/top-100-us-hos...
kelseyfrog 4mo ago
We could end the Triffin dilemma by no longer maintaining the dollar as the unit of international reserve. This would eliminate the biggest driver of the trade deficit and via a reversing of the Baumol effect, lower the price of health care and education. The only problem? No one has the political will to do it. > Someone is charging way too much for goods and services It's more money chasing meager supply. They're charging market rates. However when the market is distorted through the described arrangement, it's clear what has to change - the structure of international finance.
- adjejmxbdjdn 4mo ago
  What’s the problem with the trade deficit? Americans are getting actual products and services in return for depreciating IOUs. It’s like a loan where the lender pays interest. Why would anyone be against that? Note: This is different from the strategic interest in maintaining domestic industries. That’s very defensible. But I don’t understand the fear of a trade deficit denominated in your own currency (other countries have bigger genuine concerns with a dollar denominated trade deficit, because if their currency falls against the dollar suddenly, they’re kind of screwed, at least in the short term).
  - kelseyfrog 4mo ago
    The US imports more goods than it exports. It also exports more services than it imports. The US Department of Commerce breaks down the numbers for import and export by goods and services[1]. Sure, the US benefits by having cheap goods. This means precisely that there's more money chasing services. It's why we have cheap televisions(yay!) but expensive healthcare, education, housing. Those things cannot be made elsewhere and imported into the US to benefit from the power of trade imbalance. 1. Page 14 of 56. https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/trad0426.pdf https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/trad0426.pdf

downrightmike 4mo ago

The Seven-Times Markup: The Johns Hopkins study analyzed the nation's top 100 hospitals by revenue and found that their "chargemaster" prices (the initial sticker price) averaged 700% of the actual cost of providing the service. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/top-100-us-hospitals-charge-patients-7-times-their-actual-care-cost-study-shows/ https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/top-100-us-hos...

kelseyfrog 4mo ago

We could end the Triffin dilemma by no longer maintaining the dollar as the unit of international reserve. This would eliminate the biggest driver of the trade deficit and via a reversing of the Baumol effect, lower the price of health care and education. The only problem? No one has the political will to do it. > Someone is charging way too much for goods and services It's more money chasing meager supply. They're charging market rates. However when the market is distorted through the described arrangement, it's clear what has to change - the structure of international finance.

adjejmxbdjdn 4mo ago
What’s the problem with the trade deficit? Americans are getting actual products and services in return for depreciating IOUs. It’s like a loan where the lender pays interest. Why would anyone be against that? Note: This is different from the strategic interest in maintaining domestic industries. That’s very defensible. But I don’t understand the fear of a trade deficit denominated in your own currency (other countries have bigger genuine concerns with a dollar denominated trade deficit, because if their currency falls against the dollar suddenly, they’re kind of screwed, at least in the short term).
- kelseyfrog 4mo ago
  The US imports more goods than it exports. It also exports more services than it imports. The US Department of Commerce breaks down the numbers for import and export by goods and services[1]. Sure, the US benefits by having cheap goods. This means precisely that there's more money chasing services. It's why we have cheap televisions(yay!) but expensive healthcare, education, housing. Those things cannot be made elsewhere and imported into the US to benefit from the power of trade imbalance. 1. Page 14 of 56. https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/trad0426.pdf https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/trad0426.pdf