A few years ago, when I was stressing over my inability to publish my third book, Economics, I took a continuing education class at the Graham School of General Studies called, oddly enough, Economics. I just wanted to get out of the house and engage with some people, and that’s exactly what I got out of the class.
The instructor, Charlie Wheelan, was just getting ready to publish his book called Naked Economics. I thought it was funny that he was writing a real Economics book that had a sexy title and I was writing a fake Economics book with a straight title that had a poem about how the Unabomber masturbates. I don’t think he found it as amusing as I did.
Anyway, he was a good teacher. Great explainer. And now he’s doing it for Yahoo! Finance. Here’s a snip:
The Top 10 Reasons for Soaring Health-Care Costs: The Naked Economist – Yahoo! Finance
3. Health care is a "luxury good".
Wait. Before you start sending me angry e-mails, please let me clarify. I’m not saying that health care is a luxury. I’m saying that health care is a "luxury good," which is a technical term in economics. It refers to any good that wealthy people demand in disproportionately greater amounts than less wealthy people.
The opposite is an "inferior good", which is something that people actually consume less of as they get richer. Ramen noodles, for example, are likely to be an inferior good. I’m certain that my graduate students eat far more of them than Donald Trump does, his capacity to afford huge quantities notwithstanding.