By Rebekah L. Sanders | The Arizona Republic
U.S. Rep. David Schweikert was resting in the shade of a red cliff, pausing on his way up the switchbacks of the Havasupai Trail.
It had been a physically taxing, five-hour hike at the end of a Grand Canyon backpacking trip, and Schweikert, 51, had run out of water.
As usual, the self-described financial nerd who made his first real-estate investment as a teenager was thinking in terms of dollars and cents.
“I hope the guy selling $15 sodas is still at the top,” Schweikert said, noting the price he was willing to pay for refreshment at that point. Everyone in the Republican congressman’s hiking party was thirsty and soaked in sweat from the midday heat. “That’s a lesson in economics: scarcity and demand.”
Sure enough, after reaching the summit, the trailhead hawker’s success was evident: A beverage cooler in the bed of a pickup truck, just hours into the day, was down to a few Fantas. But even with a lower price, $5, no one in the hiking group seemed keen for orange soda.
