3 June 2004

The new law of supply and demand

Forgive us for banging on about not being able to buy anything we like in the shops, but The heavy price of seeing food as a commodity by Andrew Anthony in yesterday's Guardian contained an apposite observation:

"Large corporations like British supermarket chains do not define demand in terms of what people want, so much as what their customers can get elsewhere. And as supermarket competition is driven not by quality but price, what they can get elsewhere is the same, only perhaps cheaper."

This goes not just for supermarkets but practically every other major retailer. Certain "leading" high street photographic stores come to mind. As do those defaced Aber pubs we bemoaned the other day. Thanks, Adam Smith and all the proles.