Title: Rich Athletes, Poor Teachers | Mises Institute
Headings: Rich Athletes, Poor Teachers
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Rich Athletes, Poor Teachers
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Content: They think of it as something that society could function well without. It doesn't seem to make sense that work deemed important by most people could be valued far less than that which may be unnecessary or seen as frivolous to many. This is similar to a paradox of old: Why are diamonds so expensive and water so cheap, when water is absolutely essential to the life of every human, and diamonds are basically luxuries that every person is capable of living very well without? The answer is scarcity. When some item is widely available in abundance, such as water in most inhabited areas, the next unit acquired will be relatively inexpensive, the value applied to it by users will be low. If you don't take one gallon now, there will always be more where that came from. If something is scarce, diamonds for instance, buyers will bid the price up because many people want the few gems available. The value to the chooser of the next available unit is the only thing that matters in decision making. The more readily available the supply, the lower the price will be.