Sounds just like New York, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Paris, Berlin, Toronto, Stockholm, Amsterdam--think it has something to do with the inflationary sprial generated by overheated real estate prices?

In the US, there is fear that the real estate bubble is about to burst, if it hasn't already--too many people being priced out of being able to live in too many places.

Of course, one can always go live in rural Mississippi or rural Montana--if one doesn't mind being very far away from good medical facilities.

One of the reasons I know I can't really leave NYC (beyond the fact that my career is here) is that with my medical concerns, it would not be prudent to be hours away from tertiary medical centers. (I always think of the trouble Billye's had, living in rural Texas.)

But--is the fact that one does not have to pay, in more "civilized" nations, for national health insurance, education, and other subsidies at least a bit of a compensation for the 3-dollar ice cream scoop?

(What does 3 Australian dollars convert to in American currency these days?)