Oh, I fully agree that materials, equipment, and specialized labor are expensive, but would those costs not be forced lower if no one is able to pay for them? Would the medical system just die away in spite of the demand? I doubt that.
I've heard, though haven't researched, that dental and medical work in Mexico is often, not only cheaper, but more advanced.
And it's well known that medication is cheaper in both Canada and Mexico.
So, expense, at least for drugs and equipment, is flexable.
As for housing, if people can't buy at the current prices, they will drop.
Without loans, either labor or material costs will have to go down.
When it comes to both of these industries, there is a permenant demand. People need health and housing.
Will wages go down? Probably. Maybe the doctors, the secrataries, drug manufacturing workers, raw material workers, everyone in the chain?
The market will adapt.
Replies (2)
I'll give you the pharmaceutical costs, those are inflated in the US. I don't think it's just insurance doing it, but it's complicated, so let's set that aside and just agree they could come way down in many cases.
As for Mexico, though, keep in mind that a much lower cost of living means that the doctor can more happily take a comparatively lowered wage, as can their clinic staff. That's a major portion of the cost of care, and it's not something we're likely to be able to replicate in the US.
The equipment, I'm not so sure how flexible that can really be. These things have lots of unavoidable costs. Raw materials cost what they cost, and other industries aren't going to cut the medical field deals out of kindness. High tech equipment is full of expensive circuitry that almost every industry needs these days. Build quality has to be high enough to ensure high accuracy for quality results, which requires skilled labor and extra time to get it right. Anything where mistakes can cost lives will probably require extensive documentation.
The medical industry may not totally die out, but it could definitely suffer and shrink. Doing things right costs a lot of money. Not enough people being able to pay doesn't change that. There's a minimum price floor for any product because there's always a minimum investment to produce it. If profit becomes impossible, medical care will tend to be offered near well off communities capable of supporting the practices.
For housing, people ALREADY can't afford housing. Millenials and younger are just fucked. They're not getting homes at nearly the same rates previous generations did. Landlords are buying them up, though, because you're right that there's permanent demand. That's why it results in a huge group of permanent renters.
I don't have anything more to say on the medical industry.
As for housing, I believe houses are finally comming down a bit due to interest rates and other factors.
But I'll leave it at that. Thanks for the discussion, always a pleasure to see people's view points.
o7.
