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No it is highly relevant. I’m “making” happiness by watching a film on Netflix instead of getting dressed, getting in the car, struggling to find parking, wait

No it is highly relevant. I’m “making” happiness by watching a film on Netflix instead of getting dressed, getting in the car, struggling to find parking, waiting for the order, and then driving back. This is an economic decision just One that not easily seen by dollars. I value a movie more than running errands.

scarface74 6y ago
And that still doesn’t have anything to do with the original thesis - “if I make $50/hour when I am working. That means I should value my time at $50/hour”. The opportunity cost is not $50/hour if you wouldn’t have been using that hour to work.
- nybble41 6y ago
  > The opportunity cost is not $50/hour if you wouldn’t have been using that hour to work. It is at least $50 per hour if you could have been using that time to work. Anything else that you choose to do instead of working is prima facie worth more to you than the $50 you could have been earning. The opportunity cost—the next best alternative—is either working and earning $50 or else something you value even more than $50. You are attempting to claim the opposite: that if someone can make $50 per hour working, but chooses to do something else, then that time is somehow worth less than $50 per hour. This makes no sense at all. This would presume that the person knowingly and deliberately chooses the option which is less valuable from their own point of view.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    If I am a salaried employee, no matter how much time I work, over 40 hours a week, it would not earn me more money. The only reason that I would work around 40 hours a week instead of slacking off is because ethically, that’s what I agreed to do. Most people aren’t in a position where they could put in every waking hour into pursuits that generate money. What percentage of people that post on HN are working hourly billable jobs?
    - nybble41 6y ago
      Overtime pay exists, even for many salaried positions. Short of that, if you routinely put in extra productive hours you should expect a higher salary. And you could always take on a second job, switch jobs, or do some work around the home yourself instead of paying someone else to do it for you. There is no shortage of opportunities to trade some leisure time for extra cash.
      - scarface74 6y ago
        For tech workers who dominate HN and are the first to say that their free time is worth whatever their total comp is, how many get overtime pay? How many people who put in extra time actually get recognized by their company for doing so at their equivalent hourly rate?

scarface74 6y ago

And that still doesn’t have anything to do with the original thesis - “if I make $50/hour when I am working. That means I should value my time at $50/hour”. The opportunity cost is not $50/hour if you wouldn’t have been using that hour to work.

nybble41 6y ago
> The opportunity cost is not $50/hour if you wouldn’t have been using that hour to work. It is at least $50 per hour if you could have been using that time to work. Anything else that you choose to do instead of working is prima facie worth more to you than the $50 you could have been earning. The opportunity cost—the next best alternative—is either working and earning $50 or else something you value even more than $50. You are attempting to claim the opposite: that if someone can make $50 per hour working, but chooses to do something else, then that time is somehow worth less than $50 per hour. This makes no sense at all. This would presume that the person knowingly and deliberately chooses the option which is less valuable from their own point of view.
- scarface74 6y ago
  If I am a salaried employee, no matter how much time I work, over 40 hours a week, it would not earn me more money. The only reason that I would work around 40 hours a week instead of slacking off is because ethically, that’s what I agreed to do. Most people aren’t in a position where they could put in every waking hour into pursuits that generate money. What percentage of people that post on HN are working hourly billable jobs?
  - nybble41 6y ago
    Overtime pay exists, even for many salaried positions. Short of that, if you routinely put in extra productive hours you should expect a higher salary. And you could always take on a second job, switch jobs, or do some work around the home yourself instead of paying someone else to do it for you. There is no shortage of opportunities to trade some leisure time for extra cash.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      For tech workers who dominate HN and are the first to say that their free time is worth whatever their total comp is, how many get overtime pay? How many people who put in extra time actually get recognized by their company for doing so at their equivalent hourly rate?