Corroding faucets and the economy
Today, years worth of chlorine in the Naperville water finally ate through the cartridge behind the shower faucet (if that's the right terminology - that's how the plumber described it). A nifty $400 repair job later and we're back up and running ... for at least 90 days, which is how long the warranty lasts for.
Why only 90 days? I just want to say for the record that I restrained myself and I never asked this question. The plumber just started explaining on his own. These parts used to be guaranteed for years, but he claims that the companies ran tests and deliberately redesigned them so that they would fail in a much shorter period of time. He claims it is the same for many other parts. Water heaters from the 60s used to be designed to last for decades. Then they were overhauled so that they would only last for around 5 years. I am so glad I am not an engineer for a company like that. I think I would flip out and start breaking into the homes of executives to forcefully install their company's crappy products.
Of course that gets me thinking. If all companies in some industries are doing this, as the plumber claims, then what gives? Has technology finally gotten so successful that honesty would destroy the economy? If someone designed and started selling water heaters that didn't die for a century, would water heater companies collapse because they never got repeat sales? What fraction of the American economy survives because people deliberately go out of their way to make products worse? And to ask the obvious question that I've never seen asked or answered, why is economic growth good? Instead of a model where everyone works 40-60 hours a week to get enough money to buy things they only need because other people are working 40-60 hours a week to make and sell things that fall apart, why isn't it preferable to have everyone work 20 hours a week, but who may not miss their reduced $ as much because they aren't having to constantly buy things that are no longer needed because products are built to last? That would be an example of an extreme decline in the economy, which it is not clear to me would be bad. Makes me almost think I should have taken some economics classes to study these things ... but no, that's crazy talk.
Why only 90 days? I just want to say for the record that I restrained myself and I never asked this question. The plumber just started explaining on his own. These parts used to be guaranteed for years, but he claims that the companies ran tests and deliberately redesigned them so that they would fail in a much shorter period of time. He claims it is the same for many other parts. Water heaters from the 60s used to be designed to last for decades. Then they were overhauled so that they would only last for around 5 years. I am so glad I am not an engineer for a company like that. I think I would flip out and start breaking into the homes of executives to forcefully install their company's crappy products.
Of course that gets me thinking. If all companies in some industries are doing this, as the plumber claims, then what gives? Has technology finally gotten so successful that honesty would destroy the economy? If someone designed and started selling water heaters that didn't die for a century, would water heater companies collapse because they never got repeat sales? What fraction of the American economy survives because people deliberately go out of their way to make products worse? And to ask the obvious question that I've never seen asked or answered, why is economic growth good? Instead of a model where everyone works 40-60 hours a week to get enough money to buy things they only need because other people are working 40-60 hours a week to make and sell things that fall apart, why isn't it preferable to have everyone work 20 hours a week, but who may not miss their reduced $ as much because they aren't having to constantly buy things that are no longer needed because products are built to last? That would be an example of an extreme decline in the economy, which it is not clear to me would be bad. Makes me almost think I should have taken some economics classes to study these things ... but no, that's crazy talk.