One of the most useful concepts I got from Elon Musk, from the recent Walter Isaacson biography is the notion of “idiot index“; essentially, the dynamic range between the marketed price of something being sold minus the cost of the raw materials.

For example, weightlifting equipment. Why is it so effing expensive? This is where buying directly from China, distributed from California is tightened at fitness; granted that all the products are just rip offs of rogue fitness, but it is so much cheaper! I don’t think steel or metal should cost that much; why is the markup on it so high?