News Analysis
So many charts from this period of our lives will amaze future historians. The one that stands out to me, about which I’ve seen very little commentary, is that which shows consumer spending on medical services taking a deep dive during a pandemic that everyone says was the worst in 100 years.
Would you suppose that the opposite would happen?
Here is a look at real personal consumption expenditures in health care services. They are not yet back to pre-pandemic levels. How could this have happened? Many people were so afraid of covid that they would not get out to see a doctor, or leave their homes for any reason at all. They were also too alarmed at the chaos to go to the hospital unless absolutely necessary. There was also a scandalous use of coercion here. Fact: in mid-March every hospital in the country (unless there is one about which I’ve not heard) closed its doors to non-covid patients and some selected other purposes….