Reflections on the state of the situation.

Media attention is focused on the economy. At this moment, the emphasis is on tariff policy. This directly impacts companies and consumers.

Consumer behavior is fascinating; by convention, it is said to be logical and rewards the best price, but there are also instinctive, addictive, impulsive, irrational, and committed factors, either in favor or against.

In economics, things are often oversimplified. In the case of types of goods, we have on one side the so-called "essential goods" and necessary items, while on the other side, we refer to luxury goods as those that are not necessary or vital, and free goods are those that cannot be boxed (free goods are characterized by being abundant and not commercialized).

Then another factor is added, which has to do with the possibility of substituting one good for another. Cow's milk is an essential good, but now a substitution with plant-based milks can be considered. Another interesting example is coffee, as it doesn't really have a substitute; if it were to become very expensive, people would obviously switch to tea. These are hasty and simplistic examples; they are not good examples, but I mention them to see what comes to mind, to think.

It exceeds the purpose of this reflection to delve into trade. We used to organize ourselves by countries, now by blocs, and in each bloc, there is a legal framework. The so-called developed countries manufacture at higher prices and include a handful of costs related to insurance policies, labor risks, public finance, which ensure the legal framework, the price per square meter of the establishment, parking costs, waste management costs, and externalities (now they want to include CO2), etc. Developed countries end up with a high price due to adding costs that in turn generate indirect industries.

Elon Musk mentioned that he would like an agreement between the EU and the US; it is not a nonsense, although they are not identical.