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That definition doesn't work. If bread was 1 cent per loaf, I bet more people would buy it. So all those people who currently aren't buying bread because it cos

by Nutmog 11y ago

That definition doesn't work. If bread was 1 cent per loaf, I bet more people would buy it. So all those people who currently aren't buying bread because it costs a couple of dollars are people who want bread but there isn't enough available. Does that mean we always have a bread shortage? Maybe we do. But then it becomes a useless definition. If it cost $100 per loaf, there would again be people who want it but can't buy it, just as the situation already is but more of them.

zanny 11y ago
If bread was 1 cent per loaf, bread would be near worthless. The people who cannot afford bread are not economically generating enough demand for bread to have more bread created. Markets do not care how much you intrinsically want something - that is not what market demand is - demand is simply a measure of how much money is willing to be spent on a good or service. The more money seeking bread, the more pressure there is on bread makers to make more, because each loaf is more valuable. If there is no money seeking bread - ie, the poor - then nobody has a reason to make bread, because there is no profit to be made. Capitalism is literally defined by the perpetual shortage of scarce physical resources. Bread costs what it does because people want it - that means they do not already have it - and are willing to pay so much for it. And the highest bidders get their bread, with the price being set at approximately the lowest bidder who would still get a finite loaf of bread if they were dolled out in sequence of most demand to least, while anyone below that "bid" amount does not get bread. If bread were market valued at $100 a loaf, it would mean either more people are willing to pay more for the same bread - say, someone wants to buy all the bread and offers way above market price to capture the bread supply - or the supply itself has diminished enough that the lowest bidders at $1 and $10 and $99 were too far back in line to get bread behind all those willing to pay $100 or more. If something is worth value in market exchange, it means someone wants something they do not have, and are willing to pay an amount of money for it. Demand is dictated by the total amount of money seeking something, and supply is determined by how much of something can fill that demand. And demand can include those seeking loaves of bread for a cent - but it is very unlikely their demand will ever be met, because they offer so little in return.

by Nutmog 11y ago

zanny 11y ago

If bread was 1 cent per loaf, bread would be near worthless. The people who cannot afford bread are not economically generating enough demand for bread to have more bread created. Markets do not care how much you intrinsically want something - that is not what market demand is - demand is simply a measure of how much money is willing to be spent on a good or service. The more money seeking bread, the more pressure there is on bread makers to make more, because each loaf is more valuable. If there is no money seeking bread - ie, the poor - then nobody has a reason to make bread, because there is no profit to be made. Capitalism is literally defined by the perpetual shortage of scarce physical resources. Bread costs what it does because people want it - that means they do not already have it - and are willing to pay so much for it. And the highest bidders get their bread, with the price being set at approximately the lowest bidder who would still get a finite loaf of bread if they were dolled out in sequence of most demand to least, while anyone below that "bid" amount does not get bread. If bread were market valued at $100 a loaf, it would mean either more people are willing to pay more for the same bread - say, someone wants to buy all the bread and offers way above market price to capture the bread supply - or the supply itself has diminished enough that the lowest bidders at $1 and $10 and $99 were too far back in line to get bread behind all those willing to pay $100 or more. If something is worth value in market exchange, it means someone wants something they do not have, and are willing to pay an amount of money for it. Demand is dictated by the total amount of money seeking something, and supply is determined by how much of something can fill that demand. And demand can include those seeking loaves of bread for a cent - but it is very unlikely their demand will ever be met, because they offer so little in return.