Relative wealth is what gets you the most mating opportunities and gives your genes a competitive advantage, to put it in a pseudo-academic language. Geoffrey M

Relative wealth is what gets you the most mating opportunities and gives your genes a competitive advantage, to put it in a pseudo-academic language. Geoffrey Miller's The Mating Mind is way more interesting and deeper than this article if you are interested in the subject. Spent is even more about relative wealth as a fitness signal, but a bit fluffier.