It is during economic recessions that the difference between need and demand becomes obvious. Demand not only means that people want something but that they have the means and are willing to pay for what they want. The market doesn’t give a fig about need; it is interested only in demand.

During recessions, there is far more need than demand. Not just folks with the gimmes, but people who are destitute or in danger of becoming destitute. The market, however, in its solemn majesty, can allow people to starve or freeze to death without a thought, because without money they simply do not exist from an economic standpoint.

Tags: Needs, demand