Ripple effects. A snippet from a book I look forward to reading: Frostbite by Nicola Twilley, on the transformative effect of refrigeration.
>The ripple effect of this transformation shapes the geography and economics of American meat to this day. Urban stockyard workers had been unionized since the 1930s; employees of the new rural processing plants were not: they were and are paid much less. With the savings on labor and food costs, the new met-packers could cut beef prices while still making more money, and Americans responded my eating ever more meat.
In some circles I try to keep to myself my belief that many things in modern life cost much less than they should.
(via the great Marion Nestle)