[ExI] Why is “cost of living” such a big problem?

[John Clark]

On Mon, Nov 2, 2026 at 12:00 AM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

*>Why do wages seem to be falling behind inflation? I know tariffs and the
> war in Iran play a role,*


*Absolutely! I am a (small l) libertarian so I believe that whenever
someone tries to screw around with free trade the results are always bad.
And you didn't need to be an economic genius to predict that if the Strait
of Hormuz gets blocked, which Iran is in an excellent position to do, then
the results on the economy will not be good.*

*> but it seems to me that there’s more to it. I also suspect health care
> is only beginning to become a major part of the problem, as the number of
> expensive treatments and cures continues to grow exponentially.*


*I'd like to know why more politicians are not asking how the average
technologically advanced nation in Europe or Asia spends per capita about a
third  what the US does, and yet they manage to produce results that are
superior to that of the US. Isn't it time to consider the possibility that
maybe just maybe we could learn something from them? I think it's time to
get over our cultural "Not Invented Here" cognitive bias. *


> *> But why isn’t AI boosting productivity enough to help everyone afford
> more, despite these pressures?*


*The answer is social inertia. For years computers have been better at
medical diagnosis and prescribing drugs than even the best human doctor,
and today an AI could provide ALL medical care, except for surgery and
nursing, and could do so at a dramatically lower cost; but laws prevent
that from happening. *

*And today an AI could drive trucks substantially safer than the average
human truck driver, but it's never going to become common until an AI can
drive dramatically safer than even the safest human truck driver, and maybe
not even then.*

*John K Clark*

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