![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Krugman on English Food
Jun. 20th, 2011 08:53 am I found this essay by accident (Supply, Demand and English Food)
I've often said to people that English food pretty much deserved the bashing it got right into the 1980s, late 80s for that matter. I remember the 1970s far too well, and one of the good things about time is it's taking us further and further from the Britain of the 1970s. Unlike my older brother I was too young to drink and meet girls, which, as far as I can tell, were the only things that saved the decade for him.
Anyway. Krugman uses the example of English food as an example of the market setting a bad equilibrium. When food supplies improved, the quality of supply didn't because people just didn't know they could demand nicer stuff. In general, I suspect this remained the case until the expansion in TV cooking shows in the 1980s and the general improvement in supermarket qualities that occurred.
Interestingly I'd go as far as to suggest that a lot of the US is suffering from this right now. While the quality of the food in the US is pretty high, there are some noticeable problems (at least for a Brit) of which Chocolate, Cheese and Bread are the most glaring examples. Even in the dark days of the 1970s, all 3 of these products were better than the mass market US equivalents. While you can get decent examples of all 3 in the USA, the price differential is truly terrifying.
I've often said to people that English food pretty much deserved the bashing it got right into the 1980s, late 80s for that matter. I remember the 1970s far too well, and one of the good things about time is it's taking us further and further from the Britain of the 1970s. Unlike my older brother I was too young to drink and meet girls, which, as far as I can tell, were the only things that saved the decade for him.
Anyway. Krugman uses the example of English food as an example of the market setting a bad equilibrium. When food supplies improved, the quality of supply didn't because people just didn't know they could demand nicer stuff. In general, I suspect this remained the case until the expansion in TV cooking shows in the 1980s and the general improvement in supermarket qualities that occurred.
Interestingly I'd go as far as to suggest that a lot of the US is suffering from this right now. While the quality of the food in the US is pretty high, there are some noticeable problems (at least for a Brit) of which Chocolate, Cheese and Bread are the most glaring examples. Even in the dark days of the 1970s, all 3 of these products were better than the mass market US equivalents. While you can get decent examples of all 3 in the USA, the price differential is truly terrifying.
Likewise, the prevalence of large, industry scale chain restaurants suggests to me that the US, taken as a whole, has hit something of an inflection point in the supply/demand curve. I know people who would rather go to an Olive Garden than "risk" a small local Italian restaurant, because, well, "you know what you're going to get don't you?"
That really reminds me of the kind of nonsense my parents and grandparents would come up with for not eating Indian food 30 years ago.
