3 ms·

Most economists say that every good is non-satiable, except money, which people only want for the purpose of consuming goods. In reality, the reverse is often

by wisty 15y ago

Most economists say that every good is non-satiable, except money, which people only want for the purpose of consuming goods. In reality, the reverse is often true. You can have too much pizza (though it can be fun to try). You can't have too much in your bank account (or investment portfolio).

bartonfink 15y ago
True, you can't have too much, but you can have enough that it puts you well past the point of diminishing returns. If I, for example, were making 1m a year as a software engineer but still had to answer to someone else and deal with bullshit (read anything I didn't want to deal with - politics, TPS reports, writing boring software, limits on vacation), I'd still be as unhappy as I would be at twice the pay. More money wouldn't make the situation any more palatable. Getting a position that lessened the bullshit would. That position could take several forms, and there's many different levers (e.g. paid vacation, a position of substantial autonomy) I can pull besides money to increase my satisfaction. I can't imagine, though, that most CEO's can move those levers drastically. It's not like you can negotiate for a more reasonable board come hiring time. CEO's don't take vacation in the same way you and I do, and even if they did, I'm not sure a CEO who fought to take time away from his company would be thought of favorably.
twoodfin 15y ago
> You can have too much pizza... But you can't have the best pizza in the world without potentially spending thousands of dollars to get yourself to Naples. That's an extreme example, but I assume those economists mean that almost any category of good can reach arbitrary levels of consumption. If I had several billion dollars, my pizza acquisition budget might literally be 1000x what it is now.
- wisty 15y ago
  Maybe, but I doubt it. And a holiday to Naples is not pizza, it's a holiday to Naples. In virtually every respect worth speaking of, they are entirely different products.

by wisty 15y ago

bartonfink 15y ago

True, you can't have too much, but you can have enough that it puts you well past the point of diminishing returns. If I, for example, were making 1m a year as a software engineer but still had to answer to someone else and deal with bullshit (read anything I didn't want to deal with - politics, TPS reports, writing boring software, limits on vacation), I'd still be as unhappy as I would be at twice the pay. More money wouldn't make the situation any more palatable. Getting a position that lessened the bullshit would. That position could take several forms, and there's many different levers (e.g. paid vacation, a position of substantial autonomy) I can pull besides money to increase my satisfaction. I can't imagine, though, that most CEO's can move those levers drastically. It's not like you can negotiate for a more reasonable board come hiring time. CEO's don't take vacation in the same way you and I do, and even if they did, I'm not sure a CEO who fought to take time away from his company would be thought of favorably.

twoodfin 15y ago

> You can have too much pizza... But you can't have the best pizza in the world without potentially spending thousands of dollars to get yourself to Naples. That's an extreme example, but I assume those economists mean that almost any category of good can reach arbitrary levels of consumption. If I had several billion dollars, my pizza acquisition budget might literally be 1000x what it is now.

wisty 15y ago
Maybe, but I doubt it. And a holiday to Naples is not pizza, it's a holiday to Naples. In virtually every respect worth speaking of, they are entirely different products.