I would tend to disagree; I feel that my point was rather concise. That said, using an economic example like that with such variance present was probably not a good choice for comparison, in fact an economic model in general isn't good for the argument at hand. That said though, the mere presence of higher-grade consumer and professional hardware (albeit some is overhyped) should be indication enough that there is a difference between the two. We don't seem to disagree on this-- I think the point really comes down to what hardware it's used on, as you seem to blanket coat your assumptions towards any hardware and any person.
As per the ABX test... it's inherently flawed. Let's go for a simple hypothesis test. Your sample used for that is not random, and certainly isn't indicative of the overall population. Furthermore hardware differences and media choice skew the results entirely-- you could say they're confounding variables. There's too many variances present even in the source material (ex original quality differences, times re-encoded, encoded with what, etc)... how can you draw a conclusion about the population from that? Find me a definitive study from a random sample with all of the confounding variables controlled; then we'll talk. Doing a living-room test with friends has no statistical significance-- the results mean nothing.
For example, while re-encoding my library, I did an informal ABX test with my friends that wasn't double blind and guess what; they all said that the lossless sounded better, and I agree. This was on lower end audio equipment (DAC 707 + Klipsch Promedia 2.1). Does it mean anything statistically? No. Much like you I have no true statistical evidence to base my opinions on, only anecdotal and/or flawed studies. My evidence and experience suggests the opposite of yours, so who is right? Technically no one, however if we were to bank on anecdotal evidence alone then probably myself.
Unless you have concrete proof that applies to the population its he said she said, with me saying that I CAN hear the difference on non-audiophile grade equipment.
