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?

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goodlil666 · 51-55, M

@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, M

@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.