Scarcity drives the cost and the status of many things.
For some things, this works.
For example, take the Mona Lisa.
Scarcity works here because who cares how much someone is willing to pay for it? The status it proffers on its owner is meaningless outside of a very small circle. Also, would it matter if a private collector, rather than a public art museum, owned and hid it from us?
However, take an elite institution such as Harvard University.
If this is one of the best colleges on earth, shouldn’t they try to instruct more students, not less? Shouldn’t it be one of the most affordable rather than one of the least (EFC == 0 families aside)?
The problem with scarcity and status, like many things, is a matter of who benefits versus who suffers. If we want to move forward as a culture and a species, let’s stop using scarcity when it matters most.
