[WhyIsItGlowing]

I've had it happen to me quite literally; I've had two pairs of cheap boots not even last a month before the soles detached.

There's always a point of diminishing returns, but it doesn't really make much odds where that is if you've not got the money. If you've only got £20, it doesn't really matter that good long lasting boots can be bought for £50 not £300.

[panick21_]

Ok but once we are admitting that you can get really good boots for £50 we are talking about a much smaller part of society.

If you can buy one pair of shoos for £50 and it will last you for years, then the vast majority of society can afford it.

Those that can't should be on social welfare and that should be a small % of the population.

So the question really is how many % of you society requires welfare to live above the poverty level and how can you reduce that number.

One can argue that this effect is real, but I don't think it works as an explanation for poverty.