Maybe someone else can explain the "Germain Effect"?
The Germain Effect is a subset of the Psychopathy Of Scarcity.
As defined with the population of pipe smokers, it is the belief that if something is scarce, it must be amazingly great, and therefore worth hunting down at all costs. Then, the quarry found, it is necessary to buy up as much of it as one can because one never knows if or when one will get another chance. Once you have obtained unobtainium you can then beat your breast and crow to all and sundry that you are possessor of "my precious" and extoll its virtues to the poor sots who are bereft of unobtainium. This in turn drives the sots mad with the desire to obtain unobtainium for themselves so that they can become successful human beings. All of this is, of course, based on nonsensical assumptions, but what is more powerful than nonsensical assumptions?
The scarcity problem is certainly exacerbated by the extreme nut job hoarders, people with hundreds of pounds of tobacco and scant years to live, who are still suctioning up all that they can find.
Germain's is a 200 year old small boutique blender, staffed by 6 or 7 doddering pensioners who, when not napping, occasionally make blends on ancient machinery, making blends in the great British tradition. They take on a lot more projects than they can supply on a regular basis.
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