With some things it’s now literally impossible to buy quality. I would like to have the option to pay more for something better, rather than less but for something that falls apart after a few uses/washes.

This planned obsolescence is exhausting. We’re turned into perpetual shoppers but lately I don’t even want to buy what we need, not just want! It’s often so disappointing and not worth the trouble.

I see what you mean about people’s reluctance to switch. Economic theory doesn’t take into account that some people have a calling or strong preference for some things, I guess. If our industry was to collapse tomorrow, we’d probably fight to the end and cling to it 🙂

Add to that general resistance to change, and as people age they become even more lazy and stubborn…

Well, this is a discussion without end with lots of “on the other hand”.

Pretty standard reaction in a recession. Protectionism will again enter the political arena. It’s been floating around on the fringes for a couple of years already.

The answer is not protectionism, rather, innovation.

Protectionism simply diverts scarce resources to the less efficient producer.

However having said that, China heavily subsidised their various industries, which made them ultra-competitive on world markets.

The problem is that economic theory, that mandates the allocation of labour to profitable undertaking, in reality meets the problem of labour stickiness.

They [labour] can’t, or won’t constantly change or re-train to new jobs. People struggle with rapid change for a variety of reasons.

Thus economic theory tends to run into problems when looking at elasticity of supply and the political backlash that it generates.

jog on
duc