Life, friendship and economics

Like any other good engineering student graduating from the hallowed walls of IIT, I too have taken up a keen interest in the principles of economics- the tryst begins with it being a relief from ordinary engineering courses only to continue and become the course you like most. Till now, however, I had only considered those principles to be applied to goods, products and markets. Now that I consider its implications on life in general, economics becomes more attractive with a whole new area of fun applications.
Economics 101 : Supply remaining constant, price goes up if demand increases and vice versa.
Well, I never really had much against this rule. True for any profession ( reason why my brother joined commercial pilot training after school, demand was high , supply of pilots wasn’t keeping up) ; in relations too the law holds. Demand being equivalent to the need for companionship, friendship; a person to trust, to speak to, to enjoy with. Supply – the availability of the person in question. During times of sorrow, during bad,harsh,rough times the person closest and most easily available becomes your best friend. The price ( importance of person) goes up.
I must say I have been able to follow eco101 quite well over the years, having been there for my friends during times of need.

Economics 102: Demand remaining constant, price goes down if supply increases and vice versa.
This is the principle which has troubled me the most. You see , its been often that I have made myself freely available that my importance( price) has gone down drastically. Sometimes this excess supply of friendship and care has reached the levels of being nagging or intrusive, thus leading to some friendships to have been almost completely destroyed ( product failure in market due to excess supply and even greater perception of supply). I had previously not believed in applying this dictum in life ( having always believed in being there for the people I care about at every point in time), but now it seems eco102 does hold true. After all , who likes nagging, especially in today’s world where even love and friendship are commodities whose supply needs to be controlled ( excuse me sounding a bit aggressive here. Although I do hold the human values of love and friendship in very high esteem, sometimes-just sometimes-I had been made to think otherwise )
You see , the important thing is to regulate the timing of your production( and hence supply) to coincide with good demand levels. The trick is to make yourself available only when you are welcome , and even more when you are needed.

Here crop up some other familiarities too. Any person with knowledge of eco101 and eco102 would be tempted to suggest that we should reduce supply in days of constant demand in order to raise prices. However, that is not the way to go about it , because of what is called product replacement ( Economics 103) whereby you lose market share to a competitor. A perfect market is where all players play in harmony ( all people are friends and also competitors and benefit one another).
So how do you increase your prices?
Economics 104: Competitive advantage
You must build a niche for yourself in the marketplace, increase your demand and hence your prices. You make yourself so important to your loved ones that they never forget you. You make yourself so valuable in your profession, in your workplace that people cannot ignore you*.
Economics 105: Price correction.
The market may value a product incorrectly now but it will correct the prices at a later point in time
So even if after all your sincere efforts, you don’t think you are valued highly enough, no need to get depressed . You will get your share of importance (prices) sooner or later.

*born out of a discussion with a friend over some wonderful tea and ham sandwich 

Disclaimer : the eco principles mentioned ( and especially their order) should not be challenged by any economics expert :P ..i did not, after all, take up any eco courses