Every Picture Tells A Story: Keeping Up with the “Joneses” Spending our Money

By Chuck Dinerstein, MD, MBA — Jan 20, 2021

McKinsey Global Institute has summarized the cost of living in the wealthier countries since the beginning of the century, now twenty years ago. What has gone up and what has gone down?

Image courtesy of Steve Buissinne on Pixabay

As McKinsey's analysis points out, we can readily see that our discretionary spending has dropped while the cost of necessities has risen – healthcare, housing, and education. In terms of "keeping up," if your measure is status symbols, costs have dropped. It seems like we can all have the newest and best cellphone, shirt, or pants. But if we measure by our ability to achieve more, through education or to be well, as measured by healthcare costs, then more and more of us may be falling behind.

One step, I suppose, to a more equitable society is to flip that script, bringing down the cost of essentials and making a 40-hour workweek sufficient to support oneself and your family.

Source: The cost of basic necessities rose much faster than inflation this century

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cost of living

Chuck Dinerstein, MD, MBA

Director of Medicine

Charles Dinerstein, MD, MBA, is the Medical Director of the American Council on Science and Health. A vascular surgeon with more than 25 years of clinical experience, he brings a physician's understanding of medical decision-making, an appreciation for scientific uncertainty, and a broader perspective on healthcare economics and policy to his writing.