Posts by Stenetoppen

Yes. Economists do love magical, lovely human selfishness

re: we know that price determines demand...

Price alone does NOT determine demand. Price obviously has an impact but it is not sufficient to explain varying demand for like goods. The dark art of setting the correct price for a good is a a key part of bringing a good to market successfully. This price may well be set higher compared to a like good, precisely in order to increase demand for the higher priced good vs the other. Cases in point: detergents, toothpaste, trainers, computers, USB cables, etc etc.

My point being that one of the issues with economics is the insistence on vastly over simplified theoretical models, whether presumptions about human nature or the mechanics of supply and demand (such as price = demand) which far too often fail to match real world experience.

Is Facebook worth more than Google?

facebook is not about facebook, it is about a book of faces (que theremin)

I don't think the point of facebook has to do with the 'social' interaction. That is the crispy coating on what FB is really going after, namely to become the dominant hub of digital ID's on the web.

Case in point: I can log on to the Register using my FB account.

With the current appification of the web, the storing, enabling, leveraging digital ID's is the prize being fought over and is also why Google + is such a threat to FB.

But back to TFA: is FB worth 1 Trillion? Nope; is it worth a lot? If they can consolidate their hold on ID's: yes. If users move to Google + and other contenders AND (have to) take their ID's with them then no. Too early to tell methinks.