ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Law of one price

Hey kiddo! Have you ever heard of the Law of One Price? No? Well, let me explain it to you.

Imagine you really like candy bars, and you want to buy one. So you go to the store, and you see two different candy bars – one costs $1 and the other costs $2. Which one would you choose?

If you're like most people, you would choose the cheaper one. But what if I told you that these two candy bars were exactly the same – same size, same brand, same everything – except for the price? That wouldn't make sense, right?

That's basically what the Law of One Price is all about. It says that identical goods should have the same price everywhere in the world, regardless of where they are being sold. So if two stores are selling the same candy bar, they should be selling it for the same price.

But why is this important? Well, if the Law of One Price didn't exist, people could buy goods in one place where they are cheaper and then sell them in another place where they are more expensive. This is called arbitrage, and it would create problems for businesses and consumers.

For example, if cars were cheaper in Japan than in the United States, people in the US might start buying cars from Japan and selling them in the US for a profit. This would hurt American car manufacturers, who would have to compete with cheaper Japanese cars.

The Law of One Price helps to prevent this kind of thing from happening by making sure that identical goods always have the same price. Of course, this doesn't mean that everything always has the same price – there are many factors that can affect prices, like supply and demand, transportation costs, and taxes. But for identical goods, the Law of One Price is an important rule to keep everything fair and equal.

I hope that makes sense, kiddo! Let me know if you have any questions.