Rich Pickings

Imagine a world in which there are only two foods: meat and potatoes. Potatoes are cheap, meat is expensive, but poor people can just about afford to buy both to achieve a balanced diet. Then there is a poor harvest, the price of potatoes rises. The poor people find they cannot afford the luxury of meat any more, so they stop buying it and, instead, buy more potatoes

This is an example of a scenario that runs contrary to the so-called Law of Supply and Demand, according to which price rises are supposed to decrease, not increase, demand for something. Potatoes, in this example, are a 'Griffen Good' - named after the academic who first proposed the idea. Economists have sought real-world examples of this thought experiment - including trying to apply it to the real-world potato famine - but not come up with anything totally convincing 

More plausible is something called a 'Veblen Good': a product where higher prices generate higher demand because, within an affluent strand of the population, the ability to afford an outrageously expensive, high-quality, luxury products confers status and prestige. Mr Veblen himself coined the phrase 'conspicuous consumption' 

Closely related to Veblen Goods are 'Positional Goods': goods that are generally owned only by people who have achieved a certain status and position in society. This usually means they are priced much more highly than very similar quality goods bought by the rest of us. To my mind, the difference between Veblen and Positional Goods is slight, but economists seem to think it exists 

We are going to a wedding in a big house in an exclusive village in Belgium. The bride's mother and grandmother have run successful and prosperous fashion businesses. There are guidelines about how to dress, within which I detected a certain apprehension about British guests. No pressure

So we went 'outlet shopping' at a notorious retail 'village' nearby. If you approach it with the right attitude, it's quite fun. Abandon your imposter syndrome and wander into shops with names you have seen in neon and even more expensive ones you have never heard of. I found a jacket with a price the same as the year I turned 45; later I found one with a year any great-grandchildren will never see. On the basis of the above definitions, they are, I guess, Positional Goods, as there are plenty of other jackets on sale. Some of the brand names are obscure; I think 'Veblen' would fit in well 

In the end, I found my wedding suit, at a price set by more conventional economics. Mrs M told me afterwards that it is a brand patronised by members of our royal family. Her timing was deliberate positioning, I think