There were a theory a while back, but I still think it's mostly valid. Originally you essentially had a three tier level of quality for basically everything, cl

There were a theory a while back, but I still think it's mostly valid. Originally you essentially had a three tier level of quality for basically everything, clothing, food, furniture, electronics, everything. Then marketing became an issue of price, and a race to the bottom started, to keep prices low, quality suffered. Still, a few people would, and could afford the high end options. The profit margin on the extreme high end is still large enough that it's profitable to service that segment, and the volume is in the low price/quality tier, but the middle tier isn't large enough to be as profitable, so it's not worth the trouble. Over time the market adapted to a two tier system, low quality and low prices or high quality, and high prices (sometimes high prices and low quality). The entire middle tier disappeared, to even if I wanted a slightly higher quality steak or shirt, I can't buy it, because it doesn't exists, and I'm priced out of the high quality tier.