The relativity of values causes us to use money irrationally. I go to the supermarket to buy a $15 pen, and the clerk smiles and says, “You can buy this pen for $7 if you walk 5 minutes from here.” Then, most people walk five minutes and buy a $15 pen for $7. But if you want to buy a $1,000 jacket and the clerk smiles and says, “You can get a $992 jacket in five minutes from here,” most people simply buy the $1,000 jacket. Reasonably, walking for 5 minutes equals the effort, and the profit of $8 is the same. However, people might go to a store that sells pens cheaper, but not for the jacket, because the discount rate is too low. In other words, the relativity of comparing values makes us act irrationally. The pen’s discount rate is 55%, and the jacket’s is only 0.8%. Yet, the total amount is the same for all $8, and the effort to gain that profit is identical. Attitudes and misconceptions about consumption influence how we build wealth. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
“Poverty charges interest,” said American singer Tay Zonday . If you don’t have money to buy toothpaste or a toothbrush , you will pay for the implant next year. This applies even to those with physical disabilities . People with disabilities often pay more for the average distance traveled. In contrast, the costs for the wealthy or non-disabled are cheaper and more efficient than those for others. Weakness is not merely a product of comparing superiority and inferiority. The moment I recognize my weakness, I must keep in mind the price I will pay in the future, and the world must charge me that interest. We often try to forget that this accumulation of poverty interest s makes us poorer. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”