exceptionnoted

During the last several years, we have experienced a general rise in the price of many goods (especially food) thanks to an increase in the price of oil.  Oil, of course, affects the price of many other items because oil ratchets up the cost of transportation, which is built into so many things that have to come to market.

But the price of oil is a tiny, little, marginal thing compared with the influence of another force.

One might have noticed that in real terms, most consumer goods are much cheaper (adjusted for inflation) than they were many years ago.  This trend is most notable when we consider how innovation has reduced the cost of manufacture and has given us gigantic value for the dollar spent on electronics, for example.

But prices have gone up radically in a couple of areas.  Health care has become far more expensive during the…