Vices, values, and arbitrary standards
I picked up a new vice a month ago: homemade espresso. Of course, to enjoy this delight, I first had to purchase an espresso machine. Like almost every product on the market, a wide range of espresso machines is available. A simple online search reveals prices ranging from $29.99 to well over $1000. As a certified cheapo, I spent just a little over 30 bucks and began pouring cups of foamy sunshine.
Now, the connoisseurs out there are going to smirk, "That's not espresso. In order to sip the real stuff, you need a machine that has features x, y, and z." Certainly, my faux espresso is not the same as that served to the Parisian, yet when balanced against other wants that are still chasing scarce resources, my investment suits me just fine.
Now, suppose that you are the connoisseur who believes that espresso must be served to the taste of the sophisticated Frenchman. Anything less is substandard and wasteful, if not immoral. Yet the evil entrepreneur will take advantage of simpletons such as me; those not as wise as the connoisseur. To think, someone is actually selling a machine that does not generate sufficient pressure, produces water outside the preferred temperature, and whose crema (reddish-brown foam) sinks rather than floats.
You as the connoisseur, and I as the cheapo, simply disagree. Our preferences differ yet go satisfied in the free market.
Herein lies the contrast between the free market and interventionism. I simply want to enjoy affordable espresso. Nothing fancy, just a little flavor and lots of kick. Absent regulations, the market is there to satisfy. Add the "expert" into the mix, and now I’m forgoing my morning cup because the product I want to buy, and the product an entrepreneur is willing to produce, do not meet some arbitrary standard.
Arbitrary standards are the product of government. Whether in education or automobiles, the politician and bureaucrat create silly standards that satisfy some political or personal agenda; standards that fail to satisfy the desires of the consumer.
Sure, to the connoisseur, I’ve been ripped off, and to the regulator - the politician and bureaucrat, I'm in need of protection. Yet, I enjoy this fraud every morning, and on the occasional weekend afternoon.
Comments (9)
Thanks for granting me the title connoisseur and yes, you've been ripped off!
Unless you've really struck gold with your small investment, but that kind of machines seldom produce decent coffee for more then at most a couple of months.
So do as the Las Vegas bank robbers and enjoy the fraud as long as it last.
Published: July 9, 2007 12:56 AM
I have no problem with the coffee produced by such machines, and I agree in great part with the author. Of course, should one desire higher quality goods, the market does provide. Just leave the rest of us who do not want to pay the price free to do so.
Published: July 9, 2007 6:04 AM
Allow me to say the exact same thing about cheese. :) And while we're on the subject, let me say something nasty about the regulations in my state that mean local cheesemakers can't give me fresh cheese curds.
Published: July 9, 2007 3:26 PM
Very surprising for me that Americans believe french make good coffee. Best coffee brewers in Europe are italians, and the word "espresso" is italian, indeed. French don't know how to make a decent coffee.
Even here, in Spain, you can find better coffee than in France.
Published: July 10, 2007 3:14 AM
Haha true. As a European I have to agree with that. :P Even the Krauts make better coffee.
Published: July 10, 2007 7:19 AM
Value is in the eye of the beholder.
Published: July 10, 2007 10:47 AM
I have to agree with euribe. The French must have taken coffee brewing lessons from Starbucks. Every French coffee house I've been to burns the heck out of their coffee.
Published: July 10, 2007 1:20 PM
Coffee aside, beautiful point about markets. Capitalism = freedom of choice and mutual benefit. Screw the experts. Buy what pleases you.
BTW, I've had wonderful cafe au lait in Marsailles. I've had a great cappucino aboard an Italian cruise ship. Just don't order a 'latte' or you'll get a glass of warm milk! I'm still pretty happy with my 'at home' espresso machine. It's slow as heck but if I use good coffee and fresh milk, totally yummy! Beats driving to Starbucks and paying five bucks or whatever it is now.
Cheers
Published: July 10, 2007 11:47 PM
Isn’t it a truncated view that is offered here? Or at least some oversimplification? It supposes politicians are per definition not customers. The standards they impose are therefore never what the customers wish…
But this is not the case. In fact, I believe that a libertarian society w/o government will look a lot like our actual society, since governments are only associations of people that pretend to offer some “national warranty” to their electors, corruption aside. Compare that with quality seals from some private automobile insurance company or coffee drinkers associations… and you won’t find much difference with government regulations except the efficiency perhaps (hopefully).
Published: July 11, 2007 7:23 AM