3 ms·
> Is it better to have an invisible "poor tax" that makes your single mother spend 2-3x the price of the cheap one over 10 years since it breaks so much faster
by 908B64B197 4y ago
> Is it better to have an invisible "poor tax" that makes your single mother spend 2-3x the price of the cheap one over 10 years since it breaks so much faster instead of having to save up longer initially for the one that probably won't break in ten years?
"stop whining about gas prices and just buy a Tesla. It's way cheaper in the long run"
> Could do an escrow/deposit style thing so you can get your money back if your cheap shit actually doesn't break faster. So there's an incentive to make things cheaper only if you are confident in your long-term business model and reliability.
The capital requirements to implement that would be absolutely out of this world.
- pessimizer 4y agoCheap crap that constantly breaks is a poor tax. The difference between luxury prices and cheap prices are not driven by that single crucial worm gear that in plastic costs a penny and in steel costs a dollar. They still would have put in the plastic one if the prices had been reversed. If people were offered the chance to buy something that would last for a 25-50% premium over the stuff that won't, they'll jump for it. Instead they're offered a choice between crap and heavily marketed luxury items which could also be crap, because their premium is not proportional to the quality of the materials or engineering. > "stop whining about gas prices and just buy a Tesla. It's way cheaper in the long run" It would have been better to choose an example that was true.