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”
Almost 90 years ago, Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin met at the premiere of the film “City Lights” in Los Angeles. Einstein said to Chaplin, “What I admire most about your art is its universality. You don’t say a word, yet the world understands you!” Chaplin replied, “True. But your glory is even greater! The whole world admires you, even though they don’t understand a word of what you say.” What is respect, and what is understanding? - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”