Why is everything so much more expensive in America?

Why is everything so much more expensive in America?

>textbooks
Triple the price of inflation. A $200 textbook in america costs $20 elsewhere
>healthcare
Same as above. Americans pay more for their medicine than anyone else.
>college tuition
Again, another necessity that has dramatically increased in price.

Why is this?

>/biz will try to defend this

Capitalism ftw?

For all of these? Lack of government interventions. They're all examples of products where free market economics don't apply.

Y'all need some socialism.

If government just paid for all the stuff then it would be cheaper

If you you think shit is expensive come to Europe, people earn pennies getting nickel and dimmed by the government and then getting nickel and dimmed by private interests.

Yes actually. Work all over the world. Both in terms of what I pay (next to nothing) and what the government pays, all of these things are immensely cheaper where I live.

Am I wrong in believing that price controls on healthcare and tuition is a bad thing?

Obviously price controls on food and gas etc is bullshit and doesn't work.

But why would price controls on tuition and drug prices be a bad thing?
>inb4 an argument from the perspective of a drug company

No, I want an argument why price controls on health care and tuition would be bad for the people who have to pay for it.

Your choice of Western societies is either:

>one that gives you the opportunity to become super rich at the expense of everyone else

or

>one that actively prevents you from becoming super rich for the benefit of everyone else

Things are more expensive in the USA because there are plenty of people who can afford to pay more for things and don't mind doing so. Success in the USA is worth far, far more than the premium you pay to live here. It's not the same in other countries.

OK take the median US net income. Now deduct healthcare spending, retirement savings, educational spending, daycare costs, unpaid maternity leave, unpaid vacation and half of the average rent and transportation costs and then compare it to the median European income.

less taxes
higher wages

You can still be super rich in a socialism if its done right. But you might only afford 4 yatchs instead of 7.

Healthcare and Education isnt super more expensive because more people can afford it, they jack up the prices because insurance (a lot of which is subsidized and therefore a form of socialism) and loans (which are largely being defaulted or deferred) cover the costs.

Supply and demand. They're both kinda screwed up industries though.

Medical expenses are too complex to really explain by typing in a box.

Haven't you been watching the news user?
Trump won't let us import these things from China anymore.

Textbooks are full blown good goy tier. They literally sell the exact same book as a newer edition every year. Students will pay it because they think student loans are magic fun money and there is no one to properly educate them (ironically) on how foolish this is.

Healthcare in the US is more expensive because we have a much higher quality and we don't subsidize it with our taxes the way European countries do. Americans, including myself, simply refuse to pay for Sharkesha and Pablo to use the ER as a walk in clinic.

Tuition has ballooned out of control because the the government thought it would be a good idea to subsidize it for every gender studies, art major, and rap history major, without putting any kind of price restrictions on the universities.

Imagine if someone handed you a blank check every single year and just told you to write in what you need and it was completely based on the honor system and there was no repercussion for you lying.

You know what all three of these problems have in common? Government intervention without intelligent restrictions.

Price control on drugs stifles innovation. Why invest money to produce a better drug when you will be forced to sell it at a price that prevents you from making a profit? A lack of innovation is bad for patients. Would you rather have a poor, cheap option and a good, expensive option for treatment, or just a poor, cheap option? Price control on drugs works in other countries because they rely on innovation happening in the USA. They don't need a local drug industry, so they're OK with stifling local drug innovation.

Price control on tuition works in other countries (e.g. Australia) and may well work in the USA, but I think it would be easier in the short term to change some of the rules around student loans, as these are responsible for the rising costs of tuition and have failed in their goal to make tuition more affordable for more people.

So what's the solution?

Price controls on anything is a disaster.

The problem is that the government just shovels tax payer money into these systems with absolutely no checks on it.

One of my professors said that they had use all of their budget money every year or they would get it cut. Even though they didn't need more than half of it, they still ended up buying new equipment to replace last years perfectly new equipment just because of policy.

This isn't even close to being a free market or even capitalism. It's just government subsidizing certain institutions with blank checks.

>if its done right
Awesome, the no-true-socialism argument.

>a lot of which is subsidized and therefore a form of socialism
Wait, I thought prices were lower in socialist countries?

Agreed on the cause, but prices can only balloon up to the point that the market can bear.

But drug developement is mostly a fucking meme.

Pfizer only spends 9% of revenue on drug development.

The rest goes to advertising. Drug companies AREN'T innovating. When is the last fucking time we had a breakthrough drug? Drug companies are too busy making boner pills

Fuck them. They haven't innovated a useful drug since the 80's.

What I would like to see: complete abolishment and replacement of the FDA so we can actually get some drugs to market. that way drug companies would have to spend less money on useless redundant medical trials.

>
Healthcare in the US is more expensive because we have a much higher quality and we don't subsidize it with our taxes the way European countries do. Americans, including myself, simply refuse to pay for Sharkesha and Pablo to use the ER as a walk in clinic.

Except the poor DO get free healthcare and its the working class getting assfucked

>One of my professors said that they had use all of their budget money every year or they would get it cut.
That's true in literally every large organization, private or public. It's a massive source of inefficiency even in "free market" entities.

Well I fucked that up

You already pay for Shaqnequa and Sanchez's ER bill. Hospitals cannot refuse them service on the basis of inability to pay. That's partially the reason why medical costs are so expensive, the hospital simply recoups their losses by charging you (or your insurer) more.

That was 90% of the logic of Obamacare. If everyone had insurance, medical costs, insurance premiums would go down. Only that never actually happened the medical providers simply charged the same and pocketed the savings.

>When is the last fucking time we had a breakthrough drug?
Happens multiple times a year, you just don't hear a huge fanfare when it does.

The FDA isn't perfect, but it's absolutely necessary to ensure the public doesn't get sold snake oil. I wouldn't want to live in your libertarian utopia where I have no way of knowing if a particular drug is safe to take or not.

The FDA is a joke. We do need a regulatory agency, but the FDA has too much red tape.

And you are putting words in my mouth. I advocate for abolishing and replacing it.

>higher income and bonuses for the ceo / owner / president of whoever the workforce works for

FTFY

The problem is that the money our money keeps pooling more and more at the top, and barely makes its way backdown

Since the govt hand out loans like candy colleges know they can overcharge and ppl will pay whatever, without thinking about the size of thier loan until later