I am on a similar, but not quite the same, page as you gentlemen.
1. Regardless of price, how do you evaluate a power cord (or any piece in the audio chain, save perhaps speakers) unless you are very familiar with every other item in the chain or get to hear the system with a different power cord?
2. Many of the people who buy uber expensive audio are not doing it out of insecurity but out of indifference. If you have the money, its not that big a deal, much like buying expensive furniture or tailored suits. Its supposed to be the best, so you plunk down the credit card and move on.
If anyone is to blame, I believe it is the Press. Rather than naming names and calling out the BS, they prefer to be industry cheerleaders. Their short sighted preference for being "positive" is like refusing to weed your garden. Eventually all the plants, including, the good ones, shrivel for lack of nourishment.