Twarting paperazzi through applied economic theory

One issue that Gye Greene and I occassional discuss is the price of fame. Among other costs, it would be sad to lose one's privacy.

One possible solution might be to apply the economic principle of Supply and Demand: as the supply of something increases, the value decreases -- thus lowering both the demand and the asking price. Conversely, when something is rare, that (usually!) increases its value.

This explains why candid photos of celebrities fetch such a high price: Oo la la! Britney Spears without any makeup!

Should GG and myself become famous one day, my proposed strategy is to flood the market with exceedingly mundane ''candid'' snapshots of ourselves: me brushing my teeth; me going into the grocery store; me leaving the grocery store; me getting to a car; me getting out of a car...

My flooding the market with photos of myself should utterly devalue them. Thus, there would be little financial incentive for photographers to stalk me (or GG, or his family) -- their payment from magazines would be too low to warrant it.


It would be worth a try. If we become famous. ;)


--TG