Paul Meisel

The Myth of Housing as a Source of Wealth Creation

I tend to agree with the point made on housing, except to the extent that as people move up, their previous houses pass on to other buyers, until eventually someone who was living in a substandard situation (with mom, for example) gets a house. Even this really isn't wealth creation except for the builders and remodelers.

However, in health care, I don't agree with the discretionary point. The lion's share of health care spending is through insurance -- the people receiving the service aren't the people paying. Also, many of the largest expenses are not really discretionary -- people typically don't consider treatment for a heart attack, broken bones, or other serious illnesses as a choice but as necessity.

Health care expenses are largely "cost-push" inflation that is not easily managed by consumer substitution.