But those are vastly more flexible. You can pick which clothes to buy from which store/vendor, you can buy second hand, you can get clothes donated. You can buy cheap filling food, in bulk, get by on rice and potatoes, etc.
You can't get get a second hand operation or medicine.
They are more flexible because they are less regulated. Restaurants don't have a certificate of need to stop competitors from showing up. You can buy food internationally and have it shipped in if you can't find it locally for a reasonable price, but try to do the same with medication and you'll have a bad time.
You can even look at less regulated medication, like pet meds, and see how much cheaper some are. We don't need to go that far, just like how people food is more regulated than pet food, but without being as regulated as our current market for healthcare.
The feeling we have about changing food prices comes from price sensitivity, not some kind of food cartel secretly jacking up the price of grapes. You can choose to get the cheap grapes or buy bananas instead. There’s no menu to pick the cheap hip replacement from.
sofixa|1 year ago
You can't get get a second hand operation or medicine.
SkyBelow|1 year ago
You can even look at less regulated medication, like pet meds, and see how much cheaper some are. We don't need to go that far, just like how people food is more regulated than pet food, but without being as regulated as our current market for healthcare.
cush|1 year ago
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price-sensitivity.asp
srackey|1 year ago
Food (despite recent inflation) is still very cheap in the grand scheme of things, despite it being something ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for survival.