My hot take this morning is that the price of anything is largely illusory. Take aftershave for example. A mix of denatured alcohol and fragrance oils in a glass container. The constituent elements of which cost less than £10 for approximately 5 units (assuming you have access to a label printer). A bottle of Creed Aventus costs £220. That is a 10,900% markup. I understand that with food and fuel it's directly linked to demand (and also artificial inflation and profit points), but I just don't see how I'm likely to ever buy 'high end premium' products again. I fear I have hit a point in my life where nothing will ever be good again and I'm just angry all the time.

Anyway - morning!

@TheBreadmonkey Veblen goods: luxury goods where demand increases the more expensive the product is. Because what you tell everyone by buying it is that you can afford to buy it. They also come in "extremely loud" and "if you know, you know" varieties. The latter also signals taste (social class, not being gaudy nouveau-riche).