Vent: Why are home prices so high today?
One reason: A typical home has grown from about 1,200 sqft to about 2,200 sqft in the past 50 years. Consumers today demand a far larger home. Our parents may think that we are not frugal.
Vent: Why do college costs so much today?
One reason: Expensive amenities, such as grand student sports center, fancy dormitories, etc. But you know what: to some degree, consumers (i.e., most students) demand them. There are quite a few universities where students voted to pay extra fees so that they can have fancy student sports centers, etc, when their administrators would not want to built them (reason: too costly and/or not necessary for its academic missions) at the first place.
As parents, our consumption preferences and patterns are quite different from those of our next generation. At many colleges, staff/administration proliferation partially reflects today’s students’ expectation toward student services, career development, special need supports, dog therapy sessions, etc.