The $3500 Shirt – A History Lesson in Economics
I've posted in another thread about this but what interests me primarily is how housing has changed over time.<p>In 'ancient history', it's fairly well known that people lived in ridiculous conditions, ten to a house and so on.<p>But what strikes me is that in recent years (say, the last 50 or so), housing has rocketed out of proportion around the Western world whilst other goods have become basically irrelevant.<p>I could buy 1,000 decent spec laptops for the price of a modest home. Or over a hundred thousand cups of Starbucks coffee. The car I have outside? Sixty of them and I could get a bargain basement flat.<p>Renting? A brand new Android flagship for the price of a months' rent. An utterly imaginably spectacular device.<p>I'd much, much rather live in a world in which a laptop was a huge expense that I could only literally afford once every few years, but to be able to afford to put a roof over my head without hustling 8 hours a day.<p>Will we ever get there?