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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6332775" data-attributes="member: 4937">Supply and demand as applied to an example magical item.The Ark of the Covenenta) Available supply: Probably 0.  Theoretical supply: At most 1.  The item can't be duplicated or even recreated.  If it isn't available, it isn't available.  And even if it is available, it isn't available - see nature of market below.b) Available demand: It's the Ark of the Covenant.  See price.c) Price:  It's the Ark of the Covenant.  It's figuratively priceless if and only if you actually believe it's just a non-magical artifact of profound historical, artistic, cultural, and religious significance.  Presumably every curator in the world would want it in their museum.  Israel would probably be willing to go war to insure it resided within their borders, which is economics continued by different means with rather different rules.   However, all this only applies is it's not magical.   If you believe its actually magical, or even the actual sacred seat of God's presence in the world, it's priceless in a different more literal sense.  No one who believed owning it would bless them would willingly part with it because its economic value in that case exceeds the value of the entire rest of the planet (other magical items if actually existing, excepting).  There are no substitutionary goods, including money itself.  Thus there is no basis for an economic transaction.d) Consequence of Ownership:  If it's really magical, the probable consequence is you die.   As no one is presently the legitimate sanctioned user of the item, it's actual legal owner would certainly curse (as recorded in the historical records/myths regarding the item) any nation that obtained possession of it and it would kill anyone that touched it.   One of the basic problems here is physical possession doesn't necessarily mean actual ownership.   Actually becoming the legitimate owner is not an economic transaction.  No economic offer can be used to claim ownership.  If you possess it and it's not actively cursing you, the best thing to do with it is put it somewhere and hope it doesn't kill you.  If you own it and it's actively cursing you, it's actual value is infinitely negative and you'd pay any price to get rid of it.  However, see 'Nature of market' below.   If your are deriving some benefit, it owns you and not the other way around.e) Nature of Market: Attempting to buy or sell the item is blasphemy.  Consequences are probably fatal or at the very least very painful.   Theft of the item also is likely to have similar consequences.  Arguably theft is only possible in the first place if the item wants an excuse to make a painful point, because otherwise the owner of the item is invincible.  As a result, there is demand for this item only among the ignorant, the insane, or those that don't actually believe it is really magical or at least not really magical the way it is described.  A few ignorant persons might believe it is a talisman of some sort or a charm with properties similar to the fake magical items they are used to (regardless of whether they believe them real or not), rather than an actual magical item but they'd quickly be disabused.   Transfer of the item is likewise only possible for non-economic reasons.</blockquote>

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