Why Services Keep Getting More Expensive

Even if a job becomes no more efficient today than it was centuries ago, its costs will still skyrocket. This happens because wages in stagnant fields must rise to keep pace with high-tech industries, forcing prices up indefinitely.

Think about a string quartet; it takes the same amount of time and number of musicians to play a Mozart piece today as it did in the 1700s. Since these workers deserve raises matching the growth seen in factories or software, the total cost of the performance climbs steadily. This phenomenon creates a paradox where essential services like healthcare and education become increasingly pricey despite no improvement in their basic delivery. It explains why some things stay expensive even when technology evolves rapidly around them.