(Almost) the end

3 papers in one days is no joke. Thankfully it was quite manageable. Econs MCQ was quite harrowing, paper 2 was better as I ultilised my econs s knowledge to answer the questions, although i drew and redrew my graphs a few times. Biotech was surprisingly easy save for the essay qeustion, but I was pleasantly surprised as for once I actually could answer the question at the first try without going in my head "what in (insert deity here)'s name are you writing?". They even asked us to define a drug, plus gave us 2 marks to calculate gradient. In the end I reckon only 7% of the biotech syallabus was tested, so much for the other funny stuff like monoclonal antibodies.
The pseudo-end, but I mustn't be distracted.
I know econs is done and dusted, but I just couldn't help but think about this. As I trawled the malls today, I marvelled at the variety of consumer goods available to consumers today. Designer shoes, necklaces, digital cameras and body lotions etc. It sort of hit me that most people do not really need, as in without them they'll be unable to survive, such items. Yet it would appear that the economies of the developed world is greatly dependent on consumption, domestic or otherwise, and it is consumption of the unnecessary kind. I guess it wouldn't be too wrong to say that the global economy is fueled by the desire for consumer goods. Investment, government expenditure has its ultimate form as consumer goods, further strengthening this arguement.
What perplexed me more was actually why do we demand goods? This is the part that economics (albeit at A level) does not explain well. The statement that men have unlimited wants does not really explain it. What is the root for this "unlimited wants"? Is it genetic, or ingrained by the society we live?
If we were to examine the Law of demand, it states that demand is the willingness and ability to consume a certain good. Fair enough, it tells us that people are able to consume a good, and only consume the good if they decide to do so. But it fails to tell us WHY we want to consume a good? What do we use as a yardstick for consumption? It is ridiculous to think that each consumer conducts a thorough cost benefit analysis to purchase a product.
Finally, why is there a great need to consume? If it is to maximise satisfaction, then there is an implicit assumption that every consumer would be unhappy until he consumes every good he desires, which is almost impossible as men have unlimited wants. And doesn't it contradict the old maxim, that to be happy you must be contended? It would seem that economics show that the ultimate destiny of humankind isn't as far off as hobbes classically remarked, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Nothing like a little walk down the malls to sitmulate the brain.