DISSECTING DIMINISHING RETURNS ALL ZONES Edition

• Published in: The Spokesman-review (1894)
• Main Author: Jim Kershner The Spokesman-Review
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Spokane, Wash Cowles Publishing Company, d/b/a The Spokesman-Review 14.01.2006
• ISSN: 1064-7317

A chocolate bar - You can go to the supermarket and buy a large bar of Hershey's chocolate for around a buck. But you can also buy a bar of imported Lindt Swiss chocolate for $2. Since Lindt chocolate is no longer snooty enough for many Americans, you can also go to a specialty retailer and buy a bar of "artisanal chocolate" for $5. Once again, in the interests of economics ("the vivacious science"), I put this to the test. I have a friend who has a Lexus, widely considered one of the finest of luxury cars. She let me drive her Lexus around for a few days, and let me tell you, that is one quality vehicle. I felt as if I were floating through town on my own personal cloud, listening to Scarlatti on the concert-quality stereo and looking down condescendingly on people driving mere Toyotas (the Lexus' cheaper sister brand). One cannot escape the Law of Diminishing Returns. When we look at it in the cold harsh light of economics ("the erotically charged science"), we see that a Lexus will not take us to work four times more efficiently than a Toyota; it will not get us to Aunt Marge's for Thanksgiving four times faster; and a Scarlatti minuet will not be four times prettier than in a Toyota.