Russian Market Logic - Confirmed

This will probably be a quick post. Yesterday I wrote about mystery of the Russian soul when it comes to buying things, and noted that I would ask around about why people would buy things for more than they are worth. With respect to the question of the shoes in the market, the response I received was simple -- there must be something wrong for shoes with 200 Rubles, which explains why people will buy the same pair for 800 Rubles from the neighboring vendor. Ah ha.

Today I had lunch with a colleague that works for an advocacy group for people living with HIV/AIDS in Russia. She told me that there is a growing group of HIV/AIDS activists in Russia that are against the distribution of generic anti-retroviral drugs in Russia. They believe that only the name brand drugs are good enough for Russians living with HIV/AIDS. In a place where ARV treatment is available only to a few, and the idea of paying the price for brand name ARV treatment in a place where the need is snowballing into epidemic proportions is simply mad -- or so I think.

So, there you have it -- the idea is the more you pay, they higher the prestige and quality. There are actually jokes about this that circulate widely -- One "New Russian" in conversation with another "New Russian" proudly shows off his new $500 tie. "Oh, that's nothing" boasts the second New Russian, "I bought the same one across the street for $5000".

I guess the logic isn't so mysterious after all.