If we measure the Baumol effect in healthcare using “salary and benefits” where there’s no increase in salary and the increase in benefits all goes to increased healthcare costs, that seems like a form of circular reasoning or begging the question. We’ve only concluded that healthcare costs increased because healthcare benefits increased.
Good point about benefits = healthcare = rising, but I’m not sure about your circular reasoning claim. Seems more like you could argue that K-12 cost increases are the result of healthcare price increases, but now you still have to explain why healthcare prices have increased so much.
If we measure the Baumol effect in healthcare using “salary and benefits” where there’s no increase in salary and the increase in benefits all goes to increased healthcare costs, that seems like a form of circular reasoning or begging the question. We’ve only concluded that healthcare costs increased because healthcare benefits increased.
Good point about benefits = healthcare = rising, but I’m not sure about your circular reasoning claim. Seems more like you could argue that K-12 cost increases are the result of healthcare price increases, but now you still have to explain why healthcare prices have increased so much.