US health expenditure per capita

From 2010 to 2021, per capita US health expenditure climbed relentlessly from about $8,400 to over $12,900, and self-published books multiplied with similar determination. The r is 0.9748, which should perhaps be disclosed on the back cover of every self-published wellness memoir. It is not clear whether the books are causing the health spending, or whether the health spending is inspiring the books, but there are approximately four million self-published titles that seem confident they have the answer.

Both trends are sustained by the same decade-long expansion of consumer spending on personal improvement and wellbeing. US health expenditure grows almost mechanically, driven by aging demographics, pharmaceutical pricing, and insurance cost increases — a structural trend that added roughly $500 per capita per year regardless of economic conditions. Self-publishing growth reflects the democratization of the 'expert economy,' with health, wellness, and self-help books comprising a dominant share of self-published titles. Both industries benefit from Americans' enduring investment in their own bodies and minds.

A society that spends more on health also spends more words on health. The correlation is perhaps less spurious than it appears — both numbers measure the same underlying anxiety about mortality, expressed in different currencies.