Producers and Consumers - by Patrick Muindi
Those who don’t create cannot possibly know the value of things. They can know the price, but not the value, for consumption, by its nature, is different from production.
I spend time each week writing a newsletter that is read in 5 minutes. I know those who read appreciate the effort put into creating these weekly essays, but I do not expect that reading them is as hard as writing them. I know because I am a reader too, and I consume in minutes what took someone many hours to produce.
I consume many other things as well—books, movies, documentaries. I appreciate the work that goes into making them, but I don’t think I can have the whole picture regarding the creation and production of these commodities and services.
There is a misperception that some have, and it is that they can learn the effort and discipline of making something by consuming it. They think they are really aware enough to; they think they care enough to know theoretically. Something else makes them even more sure: they pay for these things.
Prices are determined by markets, and markets do have their imperfections. Some things are overvalued while others are undervalued. Some may not even feature formally to be assigned any price or value.
