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Makes me think of the late Terry Pratchett's "Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice". FYI and TLDR: you're spending more money than you should by using this m
by jrimbault 9y ago
Makes me think of the late Terry Pratchett's "Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice".
FYI and TLDR: you're spending more money than you should by using this method. (and wasting resources, but that doesn't seem to hold weight against you)
(edit: yes i'm aware this from a fantasy book, but there's also actual evidence behind it as well, even if presented in a humoristic way)
- wyager 9y agoYou do realize that the disc world books aren't actually economics research papers, yes? Perhaps this is the level of economic background I should expect from internet commenters. The quoted theory might be relevant if I were using my e.g. USB drives to exhaustion (and sometimes I do, and I buy the nice SSD drives), but sometimes I only need to use them once or twice, and buying a high-quality drive would be a waste.
- mason240 9y ago>You do realize that the disc world books aren't actually economics research papers, yes? Based on your downvotes, it seems that people on HN think that fiction can prove economic theory.
- soundwave106 9y agoI personally consider Terry Pratchett's quote as a rather elegant way of explaining one aspect of a "poverty trap", a concept which is well known in economics.
- Dylan16807 9y agoThe whole point of that theory was that it was based around a product you use a lot, and have to replace sooner. If you use something 20 times, you don't care whether it breaks after 100 uses or 1000 uses.