The merry month of May<\/p>\n
There seems to be an experiment on applied economics taking
\nplace here in Jakarta's "duty free" shops. Probably some
\nbrilliant young student of economics has persuaded the shop
\nowners to participate in the experiment with a view to publishing
\nthe results in a doctoral thesis.<\/p>\n
As I understand the justification for these shops, it is to
\nbring much needed foreign capital into Indonesia. Now, the point
\nof the experiment seems to be to determine how much unofficial
\nduty can be applied to a product or commodity before the price
\nbecomes too outrageous for consumers to stand, and they stop
\npurchasing the product.<\/p>\n
Every month the price of wine (for example) goes up at an
\naccelerating rate (now totaling about 120 percent since last
\nSeptember. People have grumbled for some time, but continue to
\nbuy. I wonder if the price of wine will become too outrageous in,
\nsay, the month of June. It could happen that everyone will decide
\nduring that particular month to forgo all purchases of wine and
\nbuy a cheaper product, such as beer during the entire month. It
\ncould happen if foreigners begin to complain at dinner parties
\nduring the month of May. I wonder what would happen if they
\nmention to their friends that the price of wine has reached the
\npoint at which they don't plan to buy any more during the next
\nmonth. I wonder how that might affect the results of the economic
\nexperiment.<\/p>\n
GARY GENTRY<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-merry-month-of-may-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }