Demand and Supply and the flip-smart syndrome.

Some technologies are designed to fail you, so that you will want more and more of them, and you will be prepared to pay higher prices.

Laptops and girlfriends come to mind.

Lets just discuss the laptops. I originally intended the wrote up as a two line joke, which are not allowed in our civilized world, perhaps because we do not know how to deal with such, so let just go and discuss the laptops. You can replace that with anything of your choice. Lets say blogging is a technology invented to keep us busy and less harping about our day today problems and let capitalism has its sighs of relief.

The prices I have paid for my laptop, if I had saved them, I could have easily purchased a hatchback, in today’s time. Believe it or not. But the same laptops are now available at mere 30000. With this you can buy only the battery of your hatchback.

If one is to buy the better versions, what was not even available 2 years ago, one does not have to pay 5 times the current price. But this was so 10 years ago. Back then, the most ridiculous (in present times) abilities saw us spending 5 times, as we would spend now, sans the shear inflation and all, it means there is a reduction in laptop’s price to 10 or even 20%. Rs 100 price has become Rs 10.

But at the same time education has grown 500 to 1000% and politicians subsidies have grown by such numbers. So all the burden is only for the citizens and not the law makers.

So demand not only increases price it can also reduce it many fold (as in case of laptop). It suggests the demand for education has not increased, rather saturated in some way. Else the prices would have reduced instead of skyrocketed.

Skyrocketing of prices occur due to black-marketing and not due to demand and supply.

A house has become from 10 lakh (1 million) or somewhere to 100 lakh (1 crore or 10 million). With only slight increase in quality and prospects. Because there is massive black marketing in real estate. Demand hasn’t increased rather has been met, because millions have already purchased or built their houses.

So black-marketing always follows demand and supply plateau in countries like India. Then follows a media and public outcry.

The laws in this country have been made for decades to facilitate such economic paradigms. Just because you know something terrible is being done doesn’t mean you can stop it because even the Government is fueling such economic aspirations.

In last 10 years India has perhaps become at-least 1000% more expensive as a country. Challenging that in any advance countries in the world. But the ground realities are far far worse, so we pay massively for the same lack of quality that we had even 10 years ago. Talk community cleanliness, hygiene or hygiene in food qualities in public places, or the quality of building materials used for construction to the quality of roads, bridges and infrastructure of Governmental facilities to quality of product and service in mass transportation and what not, you name it, you will be appalled how is it so that you are paying massively for the lack of reasonable quality.

Its all due to a process of Governmental and private hype creation which is deliberate, laws are made to facilitate such and citizen are fiercely kept aloof and in dark from such processes. And its almost always as far as I can see, demand and supply brings in a paradigm, from its tatters to a much respectable system into place and then from there on hype takes on, demand and supply has been met to much limit, millions have already purged out of that demand and supply channel but a demand and supply hype is maintained to create dark alleys of economic exploitation.

Anyone wants to say Flip-kart? Or Flip-smart?