zlacker

>>bobcha+(OP)
> That is a factor that’s often overlooked: The Civic Type R—and also many high-end bicycle components—barely make sense from a strict business perspective. ... International trade has made it possible to pool the global demand for such niche products and make them all in one place, achieving economies of scale that make them (almost) cost-effective.

This is such an interesting insight that would never have occurred to me and seems to have a lot of explanatory power.

>>giraff+wu
This – eliminating costs and other negative effects of transportation – is one of the major reasons people started living in large cities, instead of spreading themselves out in small tribes across the land.