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”
Let’s say I’m a potato farmer. Assuming that I can survive by eating only potatoes, I become wealthy when I work hard to increase potato production. However, to survive, we also need shelter and clothing. No matter how much money we have, we cannot eat the money itself as food. In other words, exchange is vital for survival. This means that if we have to rely on one job, we can only survive by trading needs, apart from potatoes, with other producers, using the output we gain from that job. In an agricultural society, production determined wealth, but in a modern society where industrial products have taken the place of other needs, the greater the potential for exchange between ourselves and others, the more advantageous it is for survival and the greater the potential for wealth. This is known as the power of distribution. The more sales channels you have, the stronger your business competitiveness and market influence. The ability to sell a lot is paramount. - Joseph’s “just my thoug...