>"The market is only smart when you're selling goods that have well-defined characteristics and retain value irregardless of time and place. Cold water is worth

>"The market is only smart when you're selling goods that have well-defined characteristics and retain value irregardless of time and place. Cold water is worth about $0.003 a cup from my tap, but $5 in a bottle at a major league baseball game." The water vendors at baseball games are actually a counter-example to what you are trying to show. Though the water bottles are expensive, no one in the supply chain is able to make very much money (at most stadiums) without government intervention. The water vendors are forced to either work for the stadium at a low wage, buy the water at a high price from the stadium, or pay a hefty rent to the venue. The stadium is in turn not making much (if any) money at all without government intervention; this is why they are always lobbying for special tax breaks, zoning laws, and government-subsidized loans. The water bottle suppliers and producers are in turn competing against each other in a cut-throat business, with razor thin margins.