Ecomomics

A few nights ago I started reading "The Under Cover Economist" by Tim Harford.

It is making me feel a little bit "suckered", these sneaky, manipulative supermarkets - the lengths they go to. For instance I did not know that they make the store brands look deliberately unappealing on purpose - I thought they were just saving on the graphical design costs. No they want you to spend more on the other brands. These are just there for people who are price sensitive and they would loose these shoppers otherwise.

I did not know that they "discount" some items and increase the price of other items just to create price confusion and increase the amount we each spend. That organic and fair trade items have a far higher mark up than needed to cover their supply cost. Reaching for these items is like saying to them "I am price insensitive, charge me more if you like".

sigh ...