One (sub) rant that didn't make the first team was about what I'll call 'the imperfection of perfect competition' - the inability to increase costs unless it also increases return. In my mind it's a huge problem, and kind of explains why excess capacity is a pipe dream for most businesses - not enough lifeboats on the Titanic, not enough N95 masks in the storage closet, not enough quarters at the laundromat.
It's also hard to convince a business to make certain obvious upgrades - like a laundromat installing an electronic payment system - if it creates a risk of going out of business before the investment translates to increased return. Think about it - are you going to pay $1.50 with a card to help the laundromat pay off the new payment system, or will you stick with the coin laundromat and its $1 price? But if the laundromat charges $1 via card, where will it get the money to pay off the upgrade? It doesn't matter because customers do the best thing for themselves; the end result is 2020.
I think underlying all of this is the lack of growth, specifically the kind that starts with innovation, and it makes sense when you think about how much America glorifies the free market. A laundromat cannot innovate in any meaningful way because each quarter on its expense sheet goes toward staying in business; every story about healthcare workers improvising PPE suggests an inability of hospitals to dedicate meaningful resources toward investment in spare capacity. It's the imperfection of perfect competition - if investment in innovation relies on profits yet perfect competition by design rules out profits, then there is no growth - markets where firms are unable to generate consistent profits experience zero growth.
