Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The New Economy

So I walked into a shop on New York City's Lower East Side and spoke to the proprietor. He went into the back and returned with a new, conservative, wool, pinstriped, men's suit. I gave him $25.00 in cash and walked out with the suit.

Now the suit was made in China. I had bought it for $24.95 on eBay. I have purchased three suits from the same source. The other two suits cost me about $35.00. No mention was ever made of sales taxes. The seller uses eBay and mail order catalogs to sell similar items throughout the US.

By any standards, the price is amazing. Even more amazing would be an economic analysis of the nature of the transactions involved.