Why Everything We Buy is Worse

Around 20 years ago, I bought a leather purse with a built-in wallet. It served me well, but ten years later it was worn out. I went back to the same store and bought another, but found that the slots in the wallet part were no longer big enough to accommodate a credit card or license. That adjustment in material probably saved the manufacturer less than a penny per unit, but it made the purse useless to me. I have a similar story about a simple coffee filter. And my dryer? It contains no computer chips, but because so many others do, there is no longer an appliance repair guy in my town to fix a small problem. The same goes for my sewing machine. I'm sure you have your own stories about the decline of quality in products.

Kim Mas of Vox assures us that the phenomena is real, and explains the forces that go into the relative crappiness of everything we buy these days, from clothing to appliances to food.