tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37421406.post7702424715219086997..comments2023-09-30T08:20:57.971-04:00Comments on Bradley Wright's Blog: Consumer spending over last centuryBrad Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07800309833079635465noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37421406.post-70938154330686189472010-01-14T16:41:35.200-05:002010-01-14T16:41:35.200-05:00Interesting, David, I wouldn't have guessed it...Interesting, David, I wouldn't have guessed it. Thanks for looking it up.Brad Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800309833079635465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37421406.post-90767941618356272102010-01-14T15:06:09.808-05:002010-01-14T15:06:09.808-05:00I looked at the BLS report they cite as the source...I looked at the BLS report they cite as the source, and it says that people spent 5.2% of their income on health care in 1901, and 5.9% in 2002-3. I think the reason that there's so little change is that consumer spending would just include out-of-pocket expenses, so it wouldn't include spending through government and employer-based insurance, which has increased a lot.<br /><br /> Transportation wasn't a separate category in 1901 (the graph misleadingly showed it as zero), but is grew from 8.3% in 1934-6 to over 19% in 2002-3. That's a surprise to me--I wouldn't have guessed transportation took anywhere near that share of spending.David Weakliemnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37421406.post-51259586151485895472010-01-13T15:02:25.206-05:002010-01-13T15:02:25.206-05:00Interesting, David. I would have thought that hea...Interesting, David. I would have thought that health care is a lot more expensive now, relatively.Brad Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800309833079635465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37421406.post-19707750053928131162010-01-13T14:09:20.477-05:002010-01-13T14:09:20.477-05:00Actually, if the labels are correct, spending on h...Actually, if the labels are correct, spending on health care has remained about the same, but spending on transportation has grown a lot. (It has transport as the fourth category and health care as the fifth, counting from the bottom). That doesn't seem right--I wonder if they mixed up the labels.David Weakliemnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37421406.post-5088771168419840402010-01-13T13:18:53.555-05:002010-01-13T13:18:53.555-05:00Or does our extended lifespan explain why we'r...Or does our extended lifespan explain why we're spending more on health care?Jay Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.com