Cartridges: Complete Scam?

The ''classical economist'' (Smit, Ricardo,etc.) try to formulate             ''theory of value'' by distinction between ''value in use'' and                 ''value in exchange''. Something like ''the real value'' and ''prices''.       To illuminate the difference (the so called ''reduction of complexity'')     they used examples like water and ear. Both have incredible               ''value in use '' but no ''exchange value '' whatever. Both economist of course thought that UK represent the world. In the middle east        the next war will be about water while China is more threaten            by ear pollution then by NATO.                                                                Alas the theory of the ''real value'' was never ,uh, produced so           the only alternative still is ''theory of prices'' expressed in money         terms while there is no sensible theory of money at all.                      Nobody knows what the ''price'' of dollar or euro will be next
year.
 In this thread   everyone has his own theory of value   with the
same distinction but according to his own interpretation of the             ''real value'' or ''value in use''.

    

I would have to agree with others on this post was started by a rookie. The post started off strange and got worse by claiming that by using Magico speakers with a crappy amp the system would sound great just because of the speakers. Far from it!
This poster needs to understand that 1 piece of the puzzle doesn't make the whole puzzle. You can't buy a $500 amp and use a pair of $50k Magico's and think the sound will be any good.
It's called synergy! You can't throw darts at pieces of equipment and think they will sound sound as a whole. For example, you want to buy this $2k cartridge, does your phono preamp have the adjustability to make the cartridge perform? Does it have the appropriate gain needed? Do you need a head amp? 
Using your TT, IMO, you probably won't get better sound with a $5k cartridge. A better cartridge will need a much better tonearm, and a better tonearm will need a better TT. I moved up from the VPI JMW 9 tonearm to the $3k VPI 10.5 3D arm, which improved the SQ by quite a bit, and this was on my Hanns T-60 TT.
There are big differences between cartridges: MC/MM/MI, vintage vs. new, etc...  I remember using an Ortofon MC-20 back in 1978 which was a good cartridge back then. I bought a new MC-20 anniversary model 8 years, using a much better system than in 1978, and the MC-20 sounded pretty bad compared to the newer model cartridges. I sold it off pretty fast. 
There are diminishing returns in everything you buy in many different areas. But IMO, you have to get higher up in the audio equipment food chain before you can claim diminishing returns. 

Some think the premise of this thread may be antagonistic given other threads started by the OP. That may be a tad unfair given that this is a forum, and he is asking a question relating to value.
All said and done - what does he call value? Some believe a 'Ghetto Blaster' is the best thing in audio, and in terms of enjoyment one may find it hard to place a value.
Putting things into 'relative perspective' over £2500 there are diminishing returns, likewise I believe that so called top flight cartridges are effectively different flavours so to speak. A good example is that the BenzLP is commonly regarded as an astonishing performer at around £2500 and it can compete against anything out there so to speak.
But a £200MM ain't gonna cut the mustard against a top flight MC - (provided both given equal phono stages).
What value you place on the price is anybody's guess - a Lada Riva and a Ferrari are worlds apart in terms of price - indeed a LAda Riva is more practical than a Ferrari - but what are you looking for??? An ice plough (cheap MM for cheap turntable - phono stage - system) - a fact car (MC race track - great TT - phono stage etc). 
Value is in essence what one would pay for anything - if you think something is not worth it - so be it - you are right - but what are your parameters?

Scam = selling a customer a $2000 cartridge for a $200 turntable, while knowing the the customer has 20 albums without much of a plan to increase said collection. Now selling the same 2k cartridge to a vinyl lover with a growing collection of albums and say a nice VPI TT, then that's a bargain. See, there are too many variables and budgets. If you have a pair of $1500 speakers, and you're happy with them, no plans of upgrading them, then a $400-500 cartridge might make better sense. Not an easy answer that can be answered with a simple yes or no that applies to all end users and situations. Makes sense to anyone?