How Many Pairs Of Shoes Do You Have? Is It Necessary To Buy Shoes?

Columnist Tim Haford

Dear economist,

We need to wear shoes regardless of rain or shine. The more shoes we have, the better we prepare for unpredictable situations in our daily life. Therefore, no matter how much the price goes up, we should buy shoes, because demand always exists. We can't walk around barefoot. Maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that spending 60 pounds on a pair of shoes is a sound investment.

Shoe buyer

Dear shoe buyer:

I have never learned "shoe learning", so I am rather hesitant about giving clear suggestions as usual. But I will not use the euphemism of politician - investment. I think my lunch money is very valuable, but don't pretend that my lunch is 100 shares of General Electric, OK?

To answer your questions, first of all, you should understand that if the income falls, you will not significantly reduce the cost of buying shoes. Shoes are "income inelasticity". If the price of shoes increases, you will not significantly reduce the cost of buying shoes, they are "price inelasticity". As you can see from your letter, you think that shoes are inelastic in two ways.

And I think the more appropriate term is "diminishing marginal utility". The first pair of shoes protect your feet, and all the shoes you buy later increase diversity. In my opinion, the more shoes a person owns, the longer the shoe pair will stay at home. I'm not worried about it.

In short, whether you spend 60 pounds on new shoes is wise, mainly depending on whether you have shoes at present or the shoes you have full of shoes - I guess that may be true.