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I think part of it is not just wage inequality, it's efficiency: I estimate she is actually making $30-40 an hour by batching it, and because she is likely fas

I think part of it is not just wage inequality, it's efficiency: I estimate she is actually making $30-40 an hour by batching it, and because she is likely faster than I am (since I am relatively poor at cooking). On my end, it's costing me relatively little per hour for how much time I am saving I would classify it more as recognizing the comparative advantage she has. Even though I cost a lot to hire for a web project, even someone earning less than me would be better off hiring me than trying to build their own plugins for their CMS - it might take me an hour, and they can pay me with lets say 2 hours of their work. Or, they can struggle and spend 20 hours of their time trying to get it working. This is a real life example - they hired me for their second project, and were very happy based on the time they saved versus having their inexperienced guy do it. Of course, there is an argument to be made that having their inexperienced guy do the work builds knowledge capital, but I'm talking about strict efficiency here.

netcan 18y ago
That is true. You also claimed to be saving 10 hours per week while paying for only four. I think that'd be an expected gain. but all that's very theoretical.. In reality, you're not taking out time from web designing to cook, are you? This kind of resource allocation exists in B2B, no brainer. You get hired for web design. You hire a bookkeeper. But in our personal lives, it doesn't happen as often. You get to spend more time watching TV or painting in exchange for money. You will rarely find someone willing to pay their hourly wage to save an hour of non-work chores. People are willing to pay for time but only at a much discounted rate. Take yourself as an example. Assuming you earn $45ph web designing. You are 'saving' $450 (10 hrs) by not cooking. You are paying $60 for this - bargain. Would you pay $449 for this service? How about $225. Generally speaking businesses would probably say yes while individuals would say no.
- sidsavara 18y ago
  You bring up an interesting point about individuals versus businesses. I think one of the key differences here is that I don't want to work lots of overtime in order to make up the monetary difference to pay for food being delivered to my house - it comes out of the same bucket that eating out, movies etc would come out of. So in the end, it's true, I would have net more money if I cooked at home - but ~10 hours less time, regardless of hourly rate I remember a friend of mine who would wash her car herself to save money. I know some people care for cars a lot and wash their car themselves because they enjoy it and they take pride in it - that's a whole separate class of utility and enjoyment. She was just washing it to keep it clean. She made well over 6 figures, and she could have driven it through a car wash for 7 bucks and have it done in 5 minutes. I remember reading an article that basically said we get attached to things we have - including money, and we value it more because it is ours. Perhaps that also partially accounts for the psychological disconnect between the way businesses act (when it's the company's money, and not their own) versus individuals.

netcan 18y ago

That is true. You also claimed to be saving 10 hours per week while paying for only four. I think that'd be an expected gain. but all that's very theoretical.. In reality, you're not taking out time from web designing to cook, are you? This kind of resource allocation exists in B2B, no brainer. You get hired for web design. You hire a bookkeeper. But in our personal lives, it doesn't happen as often. You get to spend more time watching TV or painting in exchange for money. You will rarely find someone willing to pay their hourly wage to save an hour of non-work chores. People are willing to pay for time but only at a much discounted rate. Take yourself as an example. Assuming you earn $45ph web designing. You are 'saving' $450 (10 hrs) by not cooking. You are paying $60 for this - bargain. Would you pay $449 for this service? How about $225. Generally speaking businesses would probably say yes while individuals would say no.

sidsavara 18y ago
You bring up an interesting point about individuals versus businesses. I think one of the key differences here is that I don't want to work lots of overtime in order to make up the monetary difference to pay for food being delivered to my house - it comes out of the same bucket that eating out, movies etc would come out of. So in the end, it's true, I would have net more money if I cooked at home - but ~10 hours less time, regardless of hourly rate I remember a friend of mine who would wash her car herself to save money. I know some people care for cars a lot and wash their car themselves because they enjoy it and they take pride in it - that's a whole separate class of utility and enjoyment. She was just washing it to keep it clean. She made well over 6 figures, and she could have driven it through a car wash for 7 bucks and have it done in 5 minutes. I remember reading an article that basically said we get attached to things we have - including money, and we value it more because it is ours. Perhaps that also partially accounts for the psychological disconnect between the way businesses act (when it's the company's money, and not their own) versus individuals.