Cheap shoes prevent injuries?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I've just read an interesting article in the local rag about cheap running shoes. It seems several studies have been done which all yield the same result: runners have fewer injuries when they run in cheaper shoes. There seems to be two schools of thought as to why this might be: the first is that running without shoes is actually the least risky method and that cheaper shoes are closer to au natural running; the other idea seems to be that expensive shoes are softer, and it's this softness that causes the injuries, apparently because the soft landing deceives the body into an unnatural action, whereas the shock of a hard landing forces the body to adapt properly and provide protection where it's needed. Something like that, anyhow.

The reason I found this interesting is because since I switched to cheaper shoes about 18 months ago for purely economic reasons (I use Brooks Vapors on road and Nike Trails off-road, both of which are well under half the price of Asics Kayano, for example), I have had no injury concerns whatsoever.

Coincidence? I wonder.

Anyone else have experience of this?