Some econmic guy

Said "Small is beautiful." Which I think is very true in our culture. Right now at least, we like everything small. We want small gas efficient cars, small Ipods, small computers, small bodies, small candy bars at Halloween, and small cell phones. In some cases small is not better for some people. They want big cars, big jewelry/diamonds, and big food portions. It's always the really big or really small things that cost a lot of money.

I think for most things I can agree that small is beautiful. Small animals, small efficient cars, small carbon footprints, small amounts of trash, and small compact computers. I'm totally turning green aren't I?

Can I just make a quick comment about diamonds before I go on? I really think that it's dumb that the American population has fallen prey to one stupid ad campaign from DeBeers telling us that if you really love someone - that you'll get them a diamond engagement ring. Before that ad campaign started people had a variety of different stones in their ring. Why have we fallen so in love with diamonds? Do we really think that these stones show wealth when everyone else has them? Should we really pay crazy amounts of money for them just because DeBeers has a monopoly on the market? I think it's nuts for a stupid clear colored shiny rock that is in no way rare or hard to find. I don't want diamonds. I want sapphires and jade, maybe some turquoise. Why do I need to have what every other person in the world has? And why should I buy something just because an ad campaign decides I should?

I don't think ads are all bad. They let you know about new products that have been introduced or product features that you didn't know about. I don't think that is a bad idea. I think ads that try to sell you on emotion and sentiment mean that either the product is not very good - or it's a commodity item. Which is the genius of the DeBeers ad. They essentially have a commodity product that they have gained a monopoly on. Since they have a monopoly on it they can price it as if it was a scarcity. Then they run ads saying how if you really love someone you'll buy them this super rarity that just shows in $$$ how much you love them. The bigger the diamond the more you love the person. It's great and devious and I'm so glad that I don' t work for such a company. It's okay to have high margins especially if you have an essential product that others can not produce either because no one else can figure out how to do it or because of IP (it only lasts for so long...) I guess that's why the US has outlawed monopolies. It's just wrong.