Duty free?

Has anyone else ever taken a moment to think about how absolutely bizarre duty free goods are? I mean, we walk by these random places in the airport all the time.... we get hit in the knee by the once-a-trip random cart on the airplane selling things and we never think twice. Well I'm that type of guy who looks at these types of things and thinks: What the heck is "duty" anyway? Are they saying it's my "duty" to buy duty-less goods? Is "duty" free? Where did the "duty" go? It's all so confusing I'm not sure I can take it. And another thing, who originally sat around a table and thought "duty" free goods could only include Toblerone chocolates? I mean, I'm no chocolatier, but there's gotta be some chocolate in this world that is better than Toblerone.

Here are some other interesting thoughts on the oh-so-bizarre duty-free goods:

1. I've now been told on numerous occasions that perfumes in the duty-free section are more expensive than at your local department store. Numerous studies also show duty-free cameras are typically $30-$50 more than your average camera store. Some sort of reverse duty I guess....
2. There is a limit every individual has on buying items duty-free. Of course there is... The dealers of these goods want you to enjoy Glenlivet duty free, but just not a whole lot of it. If you surpass your personal exemption total (differs for each country), some guy at customs on your return calls in the "duty" hound to come add back the savings. Awesome.
3. Technically the bizarrely named "duty" is the customs tax paid to import something into a country. This doesn't mean the goods are free of that tax for the buyer. This means the shops don't have to pay a duty to import their merchandise, and are suppose to pass the savings on to the buyer.... Anyone want to place a wager on how often that happens the way it's suppose to?