Quite true.
Also, this article ignores much of the reason costs for necessities have gone up. That’s because what were formerly considered luxuries are now considered necessities.
House sizes roughly doubled from the 1970 to 2000. Is there any reason to think price wouldn’t also at least double?
Formica countertops used to be standard, with granite a true luxury found only in the highest end homes. Now they’re standard.
Take a look at the car from 1970 compared to the one from 2012. Much more luxurious.
Not to mention cable TV and internet connection used to be luxuries, now they’re considered utilities we must have.
Education is by any standard wildly luxurious compared to what it used to be.
Heck, if you watch the old Honeymooners TV show, they didn’t have a phone. They had to go down to the drugstore downstairs to make a phone call.
Exactly.
I’ve been in arguments with people in financial distress who insist that an iPhone is a “necessity” because “you have to have a cell phone.”
But you can get a cheap phone for pennies and buy whatever minutes you need.
Another thing no one ever brings up that drives up cost is credit. It isn’t just that cars are more luxurious — they are — it’s the fact that nobody pays cash for them. If everybody paid cash, car prices would drop like a rock.
Look at countries where home mortgages are uncommon — the price of housing is invariably cheaper.
Yes, but, all three are also subsidized. There are many factors at work in price increases.