Politics & News > Politics

Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

The Boots theory of socio-economic unfairness

A decent pair of boots costs £100. An inferior pair costs £50.

The man who can afford the £100 pair has less need of them than the man who can only afford the £50 pair (he has a white collar job and his own private transport). They last the wealthier man a lifetime. The poorer man has to replace his inferior boots three times in his lifetime, meaning that an economically disadvantaged person has paid twice as much for the same level of utility.

This is an inefficient distribution of goods by the market, which impacts negatively on a society's economic productivity. How to overcome this? Price control of essential goods? Redistribution of wealth through tax credits or similar? State control of boot production?

Top | Newest First | Oldest First

PepsiColaP Best Comment

Being poor is expensive

View 2 more replies »

JamesBugman · 56-60, T

@Howudoin You mean like bad math?

Reason10 · 61-69, M

@PepsiColaP @PepsiColaP

Being poor is expensive

I don't know why you would say that. The exact opposite is true.

Being poor is not only VERY cheap, it requires ZERO effort.

And in the United States, being poor is an INDIVIDUAL CHOICE.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Reason10 I think you had to restrain yourself there from saying that poverty is a privilege! 🤣

BritishFailedAesthetic · M

Price control of essential goods

On essential foods. Also utilities like energy and water.

Redistribution of wealth through tax credits or similar

You bet!

State control of boot production

Definitely not!

View 15 more replies »

GeniUs · 56-60, M

@goodlil666 I do not live in the US but other countries have all these things and there doesn't seem to be serious problems with them, so where does that leave us?

goodlil666 · 51-55, MVIP

@GeniUs It doesn't leave us anywhere other than different life experiences. It's awesome that you live in a country where they have there sh* t together, I envy you. My I ask what country that is because we could sure use a lot of improvement ? I would have been shocked if you were an American with that high of an opinion of our governmental programs. LOL

GeniUs · 56-60, M

@goodlil666 I live in the UK, it just takes time for what happens in the US to filter over here for example we were agog at lawyers suing people for their clients stupidity for a good 20 years and then it arrived here. Having said that Socialist principles have been well founded here since 1945 and a lot of people want it defending.

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

Wait ... Boots that last a lifetime?? Where do I get these? Actually, I'd settle for the poor man's boots that last 15-20 years!!

View 4 more replies »

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@sarabee1995 Sorry, didn't mean to sound patronising 🙂

ArtieKat · M

@sarabee1995

Boots that last a lifetime?? Where do I get these?

Doc Martens. They will need resoling but.....

ArtieKat · M

@SunshineGirl There are plenty of Outlet Villages throughout Britain where bargains of normally very expensive items (like boots) can be purchased for the same price as inferior items. Sensible shopping is open to all.

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

goodlil666 · 51-55, MVIP

@SunshineGirl i know the boot analogy was just a generalization and could not agree with you more especially about the housing .market and speculative investments. I live in Arizona and it is probably one of the most affected states in the USA. Just like many other areas single family home prices in the past 10 yrs have increased at a staggering rate. Up to 290% increase in that time in the Phx area. That drives up the cost of all housing and of all types right along with it. And with one of the fastest population growth rates in the US and one of the slowest new home construction rates it has literally priced many people out of a place to live. I know .. I am one of them. Affordable housing ??! What's that? The homeless population has increased at a staggering rate as well. With wages only increasing in the single digit to low two digit percentage rate the results of those two factors alone , the meteoric increase in cost of housing and dismal increase in disposable income many people became homeless. It is indeed a staggering and monumental issue that is not getting any better anytime soon.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@goodlil666 The long term social and economic cost of an inefficient and unsustainable housing market will be calamitous. Yet few people look beyond short term profit and their own self-interest.

goodlil666 · 51-55, MVIP

@SunshineGirl So true and just how disastrous that will turn out to be is scary and will take much longer to correct and take more casualties than they can imagine.

MommyLucy · 36-40, F

@SunshineGirl Awwwwwww! 💖💖💖 I think it is unfair that the 1% richest people pay less taxes I been told! 😭😭😭 Taxes go towards helping the poor, disabled and elderly and I believe in a strong welfare system for those who need support! 💖💖💖 As for the expensive boots I prefer wooly boots with no socks in winter so I can play in the snow with my precious kids! ☃️☃️☃️ Also your perspective of things is awesome! 😍😍😍 You have a big heart which is the best you can ask for in life! 🤗🤗🤗

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@MommyLucy Bless you 🤗 I will find a way of including woolly boots in the tale!

goodlil666 · 51-55, MVIP

Interesting analogy about boots and for the point your trying to make I would have to agree with you. My life's experience has been a bit different though. Growing up on a farm I learned early the value of a quality pair of boots. And spending the better part of the next 45 years working in construction and industrial manufacturing positions I have no reservations about spending $300 for a pair of work boots. They last me 10-15 yrs and can be repaired.

I don't have the answers to your questions although I do believe the redistribution of wealth and the overhaul of the tax system especially corporate tax laws would be a good start. And reestablish a strong healthy widespread middle class compared to the near 2 classes that exist today. Just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. LOL

At least in America anyway. Your experience and socio- economic conditions may be different.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@goodlil666 I was brought up in a military family and learned from an early age that correct footwear can be the difference between life and death, so not just another consumable good.

My main point is that the free market does not always distribute goods efficiently (ie. getting the right goods to the right people at the right time). My own professional interest is in housing, an even more essential and more constricted commodity. I would use the tax system to disincentivise second home ownership and speculative investment, which in my opinion has done more than anything else to keep prices artificially high.

For boots, I am still not entirely sure.

redredred · M

The problem becomes an incentive for the poorer man to improve his lot. Perhaps he quits spending money on cigarettes thus he’s Merovingian both his health and his wealth. Perhaps he stops wasting money on lottery tickets. Perhaps he takes a part-time side job.

View 17 more replies »

redredred · M

@GeniUs you’re wrong, I’m right. I won’t waste anymore time explaining the obvious to the oblivious.

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

MethDozer · M

@redredred The wealth class uses their money and power to buy representation and uses all that against the interests of the common worker. To keep their profits high and wages as low as possible.

Why should the working class then not do the same thing and protect their own interests? Why should be okay for one class, a class of benefit and priviledge mind you, yet wrong for the lower and less powerful class to do the same?

Convivial · 26-30, F

Money is like a fission reaction... Once you get to a certain level it's self sustaining... The best way to prevent it is to not allow it to accumulate over generations

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Convivial Excellent point. When rent seeking and income from accumulated capital overtake actual earned income, then it may be time to redistribute some of that capital . .

Convivial · 26-30, F

@SunshineGirl of as an expression I heard recently... Earned and unearned money

Roundandroundwego · 61-69

In the economy we built, we rich people come out smelling like a rose and we all die younger.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Roundandroundwego Unequal societies rarely flourish.

GeniUs · 56-60, M

@Roundandroundwego 'we built' I highly doubt that to be true. Perhaps you used your inherited money to fund the working classes to build the economy and then you reaped the financial benefits.

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

eventtemple123 · 22-25, M

Shhhh... if you speak the truth too loud the people in charge might hear you!

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@jshm2 It is a famous economic 'parable' that I learned at university which posits the theory that people with less capital are obliged to buy sub-standard goods which serve them less well and end up costing more over a lifetime. For a practical example, think of a poor person who is obliged to borrow money on exhorbitant terms from a payday lender to replace a car they need for work.

pdockal · 56-60, M

Most workers who NEED boots figure out how to pay for the better pair so your theory is moot
(I work construction)

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@pdockal Sure they do. Perhaps by economising on fuel or food for their family for a couple of weeks, or by buying the cheaper boots (which turn out to be a false economy). The question is not loaded . . simply an illustration of how the free market does not always distribute essential goods in the most efficient manner.

pdockal · 56-60, M

@SunshineGirl

We don't skimp on what earns is a living
Yes it's loaded to try to prove your point

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

Also, the boots were probably made in an Asian sweatshop by someone who can only afford sandals.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Burnley123 Yes, that's an added dimension to the scenario.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@SunshineGirl agreed

YourMomsSecretCrush · M

I have become a pretty smart shopper and learned to buy stuff when it’s on clearance or buy it second hand. Not everyone has that kind of patience though.

MethDozer · M

Honestly I think part of the solution is allowing more freedom in tax write offs for the poor and middle class. You should be allowed your standard deduction if you make below a certain amount for any and all necessities.

To be honest I think we should tax the rich more and eliminate taxes for anyone making below $60,000 Dollars.

View 18 more replies »

MethDozer · M

@SunshineGirl No they don't. What is fair is paramount to what just seems fair.
A flat tax seems fair, yet isn't fair at all.

Besides it gives people more money to put back into the economy. A class of people who do out their money back into the economy. So it actually benefits everyone and promotes growth

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@MethDozer Yep, a pound in the pocket of the poorest 10% does far more to boost the economy than a pound in the pocket of the richest 10%.

MethDozer · M

@SunshineGirl a pound in the pocket can get you arrested here if you're in public

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

View 5 more replies »

MethDozer · M

@Howudoin

. because those in power want to subjugate the masses.

Yeah this never happens in free market capitalism. This in no way describes the USA and it's corporate control culture.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Howudoin Thanks for the compliment about my youth! I am a 38 year old investment analyst. And a keen amateur historian 😉 However, I think it more important to look ro the future than the past.

Howudoin · 41-45, M

@SunshineGirl and all those that don't learn from the past will always, without fail, repeat the mistakes of the past.

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

MethDozer · M

@Reason10 Quit misusing the term Nazi

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Reason10 No, I think we established in an earlier exchange that I am not 13 years old . .

Many people are of the opinion that it is the primary duty of a democratically elected government to tackle issues like this, which the private sector has no interest in solving.

What is your solution to the scenario then? Yes, price controls are generslly held to introduce inefficiencies to the market, but perhaps less harmful than the inefficiency I have described. Real life is full of complexity and dilemma and we should not expect to find one perfect solution.

Or perhaps you do not feel this hypothesis I described is a problem?

goodlil666 · 51-55, MVIP

@Reason10 Hey you obviously have all the answers , so let's hear them.

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@Reason10 Well, you've summed up the function of a market, to allow goods to be traded. And the more restrictions that are placed on the market - by economically excluding a large chunk of society, for example, or imposing barriers to trade with other nations - the less efficiently that market will work.

The market is not a virtue in itself. It serves the society in which it is embedded.

I do not have an economics degree, but I do work in financial investment, especially pension funds (which may be of interest to you . . )

Add a comment...