- Look at this, got me this tie for $1000
- Hah what a dummy you are, they sell them for 1200 two blocks away!
That’s a strange thing to waste money on for signaling. It just showed the lack of understanding on marginal utility on commodity items.
I think you're showing the lack of understanding of marginal utility.
By the time you're spending $45k on doorknobs, $400 on socks might offer equal marginal utility per dollar.
That's kind of whats interesting about the modern economy is we can all express our preferences in how we spend. The bottom end has gotten much cheaper and the top end has gotten exponentially more expensive, and in many markets the middle has sort of disappeared.
This contrasts a lot with the 1950s boom era where there was a big thick middle end and not a huge range from bottom to top.
There is no such plain ladies’ fit t-shirt consistently offered anymore. Either tissue-thin and less than $20, or involves a silly print and/or ruffles and lace.
This enrages me so much. I hate cheap crap, but I equally hate over the top, necessary, expensive crap.
I prefer something well made, with minimal functions, for a middle price. But finding this is becoming increasingly rare as time goes on.
I remember two stories among many:
He once told me he was upgrading the doorknobs and hinges in this house. The bill just for those items came to $45K.
We were both getting coffee in the office once, and he looked towards me and ask, “My socks cost more than everything you’re wearing.”
And he liked me.