> Medical costs started angling up steeply in the 1960s with the advent of heavy regulation

Broadly, to a first approximation: Medical costs, real-estate, and education have increased in price to capture the consumer surplus created by the decline in food. clothing, and fuel costs.

> Isn't dumping competing on price?

Nope, dumping is used to drive new entrants out of a market. It also acts as a signal to prevent new market entrants.

If I sell 2 million widgets per year at a price of $10 over a cost of $1, after $4 million in capital costs, I can maintain a monopoly if I'm willing to drop my sale price to 50 cents every time someone enters my market, and I raise the price when they exit it.

This creates a Nash Equilibrium were no rational actor will spend $4 million to build a factory to compete with me.