Scott Alexander examines the phenomenon of cost disease, where costs for basic services like education and healthcare have increased dramatically without corresponding improvements in quality or wages. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the concept of cost disease, where costs for essential services like education, healthcare, and housing have increased significantly over the past few decades without corresponding improvements in quality or wages. He presents data showing how these costs have risen much faster than inflation, while worker salaries in these fields have remained stagnant or even declined. Alexander considers various potential explanations for this phenomenon, including market failures, increased regulation, lawsuit fears, and changing risk tolerance. He argues that this cost disease is a major factor behind many current political and economic debates, and expresses concern about its impact on living standards and economic progress. Shorter summary

Scott summarizes diverse perspectives from comments on his school choice article, covering topics like education costs, charter schools, and potential market failures in education. Longer summary

This post summarizes key points from the comment thread on Scott's previous article about school choice. It covers various perspectives on for-profit vs. nonprofit schools, cost increases in education, food deserts, charter schools, and potential market failures in education. Scott notes some arguments that made him more pessimistic about charter schools, but maintains that careful experimentation is needed. The post concludes by acknowledging that Betsy DeVos' policies don't qualify as careful experimentation. Shorter summary