THE GOLDEN AGE OF TURNTABLES!

First Dutch economist are the so called ''mercantilist''. Their
theory was in short: ''buy cheap and sell expensive''. This was
in correspondence  with  their experience with the West Indian 
Company . What they overlooked was  the monopoly position
of this company ensured by their Navy. Ricardo refuted this
theory by asking the question: ''what will happen when we all
try to do so''? 
Tuliponania was also in correspondence with experience. 
Each day higher prices on the stock exchange... 
Well what would happen Ricardo anticipated but, alas, not many
Dutchman.   

Dear petg60, the only thing the audio 'press' does is to hide the truth and try to convince us that the newest is always the best. It is what keeps the business going. They're the industry's mouthpiece.....

Dear Nandric, do you mean Turntables ARE today's Tulips? They seem to follow the "buy cheap and sell expensive" theory of  'mercantilism'. Come to think of it, so do Cartridges. Even more so, as they don't require much stuff to buy at all, cheap or otherwise. But everyday higher prices......

Dear edgewear, As novice in Holland I was wondering about
their expression ''expensive like pepper''. The reason for
my wondering was the fact that one could buy pepper for
1 euro sufficient for, say, 6 months. After ''some'' learning I
discovered why. Their Indian company bought spices for
cheap in Asia and sold expensive to European rich. Some
expressions become ''tradition'' by use despite loosing any
sense. But sense  and ''meaning'' are obviously not the
same . The meaning was to express what expansive means.
Not to denote things which are actually expensive . You must
 have heard about ''piramide funds''.Those are not much
 different then  Dutch ''obsession''  with tulips. 'There are also
''some new kinds of money'' without any Central bank involved.
So despite their ''wrong theorie'' the Dutch were the richest
people in the world. For A.Smit an example for his theory
about ''wealth of nations''. The first ''classical economic theory''.
One need to be modest when his income does not allow
''everything''. So I collect cartridges but abandoned other kinds
of our ''objects of desire and obsession''. 

Deur Nandric, collecting cartridges is one of the most rational obsessions I can imagine 😊. Not at all like Tulips or Magical Financial Products..... 

But it's not always easy to explain why certain 'objects' are expensive. Scarcity is one reason, obviously. In the 17th century pepper was scarce in the West and the Indian Company controlled the market, they were one of the first monopolists.
Desire and obsession is another, often fuelled by agressive brand marketing and peer pressure. This is how luxury markets like designer fashion operate: $1000 sneakers or $10k handbags anyone? There's absolutely no relation between the actual cost of making these products (modern slavery) and their market price.

But when both reasons coincide, prices really explode. Like in fine arts, classic cars and any number of truly rare objects of cultural importance.

Where does this leave our little hobby? Some 'old stuff' is rare and  desirable because of their classic design, performance or reputation. Some Turntables and even Cartridges do apply. Some of the 'new stuff' is rare because it is manufactured in 'limited editions'. The high prices make these products desirable as 'trophies for the rich'. Their validity as high quality products is justified by glowing reviews of the audio 'journalists', who are an extension of the marketing strategy.

Everybody has to decide for themselves if they want to play along with their game.....

Dear edgewear, ''rational obsession''? You are very .kind to me(grin).