Economics, British food, and Paul Krugman

Found this oldie but goodie from Paul Krugman re: British Food

So what does all this have to do with economics? Well, the whole

point of a market system is supposed to be that it serves consumers,

providing us with what we want and thereby maximizing our collective

welfare. But the history of English food suggests that even on so

basic a matter as eating, a free-market economy can get trapped for

an extended period in a bad equilibrium in which good things are not

demanded because they have never been supplied, and are not supplied

because not enough people demand them.

And conversely, a good equilibrium may unravel. Suppose a country

with fine food is invaded by purveyors of a cheap cuisine that caters

to cruder tastes. You may say that people have the right to eat what

they want, but by thinning the market for traditional fare, their

choices may make it harder to find--and thus harder to learn to

appreciate--and everyone may end up worse off. The English are often

amused by the hysteria of their nearest neighbors, who are terrified

by the spread of doughnuts at the expense of croissants. Great was

the mirth when the horrified French realized that McDonald's was the

official food of the World Cup. But France's concern is not entirely

silly. (Silly, yes, but not entirely so.)