[Pen-l] The Ratchet Effect

[Charles Brown <cdb1003@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

How much of our higher standard of living is 
due to a rachet effect ,and  growth-is-good and work ethics ?

Charles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratchet_effect

The Ratchet Effect can be seen in long-term 
trends in the production of many consumer goods. Year by year, automobiles gradually acquire more features. Competitive 
pressures make it hard for manufacturers to cut back on the features unless forced by a true scarcity of raw 
materials (e.g. an oil shortage that drives costs up radically). University textbook publishers gradually 
get "stuck" in producing books that have excess content and features. Airlines initiate frequent flyer programs 
that become ever harder to terminate. Successive generations of home appliances gradually acquire more features;
 new editions of software acquire more features; and so on. With all of these goods, there is on-going debate as 
to whether the added features truly improve usability, or simply increase the tendency for people to buy the goods
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