From a literary point of view, I think Sam Vimes’ inner monologue is a nice example of the kind of half-baked logic that people often construct in their minds when they’re trying to form an intuitive understanding of their own lives. After all, in reality, even a pair of good work boots is only going to last 6-12 months. Vimes has never had the money to buy a pair of $50 boots, so he has wildly exaggerated notions of how long they last.
Given that he thinks that it’s his boots holding him back and that $40 can’t be impossible for him to come by, Vimes is also probably not great at budgeting and doesn’t really know the extent of his expenses. So he has exaggerated notions of how many other expense categories he has for this strategy of buying high-quality for the long term would even apply to.
It’s a terrible economic theory because poor people like Vimes sometimes hold terrible economic theories, which is part (and only part) of the reason why they stay poor. And that’s what makes it great writing.
When the author labels it a “theory of socioeconomic unfairness,” he’s being deeply ironic. You’d expect that analyzing one’s own economic problems would help them to solve them. Instead, Vimes’ theories seem to be keeping him poor. The more he broods on it, the less attention he has to give to tractable ways to improve his financial situation.
Boots theory is the economics equivalent to getting run over by an ambulance.
For most of my adult life, I had bought my winter boots by going to Filene’s Basement – the original one, in downtown Boston – in August. This pretty reliably turned up something tolerable I could wear for about $20 (in 1990s dollars).
Then, one year, I failed to acquire boots in August. I don’t recall the reason. I don’t remember if I foolishly thought, “Well, last year’s boots are still sound” and didn’t bother to go, or whether I went and didn’t find anything suitable. So I entered the autumn with only the previous year’s boots.
Unsurprisingly, after winter had already started, my worn, cheap boots failed me. Alas, like trying to harvest apples in spring, I could not find suitable boots at Filene’s Basement in that season.
tn3270 gallantly offered to take me boot shopping. He drove me to the Burlington Mall, and walked me into the first place that seemed to have the sort of product I described wanting. [...]
“These boots,” I said gesturing at what I was trying on, on my feet, “cost $200. Given that I typically buy a pair for $20 every year, that means these boots have to last 10 years to recoup the initial investment.”
That was on January 17, 2005. They died earlier this month – that is in the first week of December, 2018. So: almost but not quite 14 years.
So, purely as an investment, they returned a bit under $80, which is a 40% ROI.
I was thinking about work boots—something you’d wear daily all year long, like I imagine Vimes’ boots would be. When I read about construction worker boots, they typically say the boots last 6 months to a few years tops. But it does still sound like upgrading from $20 to $200 boots turned out to save money. The point still stands though that Vimes’ belief that he both can’t afford the more expensive boots, and that it’s this that’s the main cause of socioeconomic unfairness, is probably wrong.
From a literary point of view, I think Sam Vimes’ inner monologue is a nice example of the kind of half-baked logic that people often construct in their minds when they’re trying to form an intuitive understanding of their own lives. After all, in reality, even a pair of good work boots is only going to last 6-12 months. Vimes has never had the money to buy a pair of $50 boots, so he has wildly exaggerated notions of how long they last.
Given that he thinks that it’s his boots holding him back and that $40 can’t be impossible for him to come by, Vimes is also probably not great at budgeting and doesn’t really know the extent of his expenses. So he has exaggerated notions of how many other expense categories he has for this strategy of buying high-quality for the long term would even apply to.
It’s a terrible economic theory because poor people like Vimes sometimes hold terrible economic theories, which is part (and only part) of the reason why they stay poor. And that’s what makes it great writing.
When the author labels it a “theory of socioeconomic unfairness,” he’s being deeply ironic. You’d expect that analyzing one’s own economic problems would help them to solve them. Instead, Vimes’ theories seem to be keeping him poor. The more he broods on it, the less attention he has to give to tractable ways to improve his financial situation.
Boots theory is the economics equivalent to getting run over by an ambulance.
From siderea’s post that was linked in the OP:
I was thinking about work boots—something you’d wear daily all year long, like I imagine Vimes’ boots would be. When I read about construction worker boots, they typically say the boots last 6 months to a few years tops. But it does still sound like upgrading from $20 to $200 boots turned out to save money. The point still stands though that Vimes’ belief that he both can’t afford the more expensive boots, and that it’s this that’s the main cause of socioeconomic unfairness, is probably wrong.