Item — HN Reader

This is very interesting and implies a kind of paradox. As some things become radically cheaper, it should leave us with more resources to spend on things that are difficult to make more efficient. But instead, it makes it appear as if they have become so expensive we can barely afford them anymore!

Does this fallacy have a name?

2 comments

Yes, it's called Baumol's Cost Disease [0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease

How is the Baumol effect relevant here? The posts you're replying to seem to be pointing out the perceptual increase in price in areas that haven't benefitted from cost reduction. To my (admittedly limited) understanding, that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Baumol effect.

Not sure if it's quite the same thing but it's similar to Jevon's paradox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox