I want a “reverse Costco” where you can buy small amounts of items you will rarely use again, like specialty ingredients. Let me pay $1 for 1 oz of fish sauce. Yes, I can get much more for not that much more money but then I’ll feel guilty every time I see it in my fridge.

Sure - I gave the door example as it illustrates the house-value point without any of the many & various other issues which affect overall heat pump adoption.

I’d be interested in any references to this research- it’s certainly been my personal, subjective experience.

I can see there’s a certain fascination in it, but if they tell you you’re 4% Croatian or 2% Nigerian or whatever, those are (a) quite meaningless categories based on modern nation states which may have meant nothing to your ancestors, and (b) irrelevant to your experience. Basically a horoscope.

On the demand side it’s willingness and ability to pay that feeds into the pricing behaviour. I need a new front door. £6K is a very high price cf my pension, but if I think the house is worth £600K and maybe £625K if it’s in good nick, maybe I’ll swallow it..?

I can see how this may be a factor Markets are never the ‘perfect competition’ of a straight line graph. Companies will price to what they can get & as well as working to differentiate products to improve margins the market structures, past pricing behaviours & ‘price leaders’ are important factors.

Not sure whether to say ‘sure they do’ followed by 20 examples, or to rage against Bad Enoch dragging the reputation of engineering into the dirt by being one.

I did think this is rather a fair point actually.

Interesting. (Would be nice if Sc Am was to introduce Celsius temperatures in brackets after your Fahrenheit temp)

Don’t forget ‘cultural Marxism’.