Investment vs. consumption 1

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Investment vs. consumption 1발음듣기

I've been wanting to make a video on a couple of terms that people have really thrown around for a while now.발음듣기

And I think it really hits the core of some of the issues we're dealing with now with the credit debacle but it's kind of at a deeper level.발음듣기

So the things I want to go over are the ideas of savings, consumption, and investment.발음듣기

And you hear these a lot.발음듣기

Everyone obviously says, I've invested in the stock market or I've invested in a house and I really want to give you a framework for how I think about these ideas.발음듣기

And frankly, I haven't seen them depicted this way in any economics book, although they've kind of touched on this, but I think this is really how you should think about these things.발음듣기

So if you save money, and I think we all know what that means, that's money that you didn't spend, there's a couple of things that you can do with it.발음듣기

You can either consume your money or you could invest your money.발음듣기

So, let's just think about a bunch of different situations and think about whether those things are consumption or investment.발음듣기

So let's say, I have $100,000 that I'm dealing with.발음듣기

So let's say, I take that $100,000 and I build a factory.발음듣기

And I think that that factory is going to be able to produce - I'll make up some product - it'll be able to produce cars more efficiently and cheaper than any other car factory out there.발음듣기

Well, I think we'd all agree that this is an investment.발음듣기

And why is it an investment?발음듣기

Because I'm taking this $100,000 and I'm putting it to some use that is creating, hopefully, more value than my original $100,000.발음듣기

In fact, I'm expecting some type of a return on this investment.발음듣기

And I've made a bunch of videos on what a return on investment is, and you can usually quantify it.발음듣기

If I take a $100,000 and I build this factory and this factory spits out $50,000 a year, it's probably creating at least $50,000 a year value, assuming that nothing corrupt is happening in our system.발음듣기

In fact, it's normally creating more than $50,000 a year of value.발음듣기

It may be creating a $100,000 a year of value and $50,000 of that may be going to the person who's doing the production and then the other half of the value is actually going to the consumer of whatever this factory is making.발음듣기

And you have to think about it, because if all of the value went to the person who produced the factory then there's not a huge incentive for someone to use his products anymore.발음듣기

But anyway, that's not the topic of discussion.발음듣기

We're just trying to get at a mental framework on what consumption is versus investment.발음듣기

So I think we all agree that if I were to build a factory that this is - let's say I'll do everything in green as investment.발음듣기

So building a factory is an investment.발음듣기

Now let's say that I'm homeless and I have this $100,000.발음듣기

And because I'm homeless, I don't have a place to go and eat dinner and rest and relax.발음듣기

Because I don't have that, I can't get a job and I can't become a productive member of society.발음듣기

So maybe, I'm going to use this $100,000 to buy a simple house that meets all of my needs.발음듣기

Let's say build a simple house, and I'll do that in a neutral color.발음듣기

This is my other use of this $100,000, instead of building a factory, I'm going to build a simple house.발음듣기

And this house, it provides shelter for me and my family, it allows us that security that now my kids can go to school and they can themselves become more productive citizens.발음듣기

I now have an address.발음듣기

I have a place to take a shower, that allows me to go get a job and I can now create value for society as a whole, instead of being on the corner and begging for money from people.발음듣기

I would argue that this is also an investment.발음듣기

Why is it?발음듣기

Because I'm taking this $100,000, that maybe I had or someone gave to me, and it's generating a return.발음듣기

And what is that return?발음듣기

Well, with a factory, it's maybe a little easier to quantify.발음듣기

But at minimum, it's this work that I'm able to do because I now have a house.발음듣기

Because I have the security, I have the address.발음듣기

I have the shelter.발음듣기

I'm able to relax.발음듣기

It's that security and it's also the return that probably my kids are going to be able to now contribute to society.발음듣기

Maybe if they grew up homeless, they would have never been able to contribute.발음듣기

And now that they have a roof over their head, and are able to go to school, et cetera, they are going to be able to give some economic value back to society.발음듣기

It's hard to value, maybe I didn't have any job before and now I have a job and I can contribute $30,000 a year to society.발음듣기

Maybe I'm working at someone's factory.발음듣기

Maybe I'm providing some other - maybe I'm a farmer now.발음듣기

Whatever, I'm providing some source of value.발음듣기

And maybe my kids - if they never got an education, they would have maybe added $10,000 of value per year to people and now they can add $20,000 of value.발음듣기

So that difference would also be some of the return on this investment.발음듣기

So I also consider this to be an investment.발음듣기

Now, my question to you is, let's say that I already had a house - so this is an investment.발음듣기

Let's say I already had a house and my family is happy and we have everything we need.발음듣기

We have food on the table and my kids go to school and I'm able to get a job and all of that exists.발음듣기

But let's say, I still have a $100,000 and I use that $100,000 - I'll do it in yellow - to put in some granite counter tops.발음듣기

I have some money left over, let's say, I'm going to add a bathroom to my house and I will put the latest hardwood floors, so that my family will be impressed.발음듣기

You can imagine.발음듣기

And maybe I add 2,000 square feet.발음듣기

You normally can't get all that for a $100,000 but I think you'll bear with me.발음듣기

So I'm essentially doing some major home improvements.발음듣기

So my question to you is - is this an investment or is this consumption?발음듣기

Now, in our everyday world, with most people we deal with, they will call this investment in my house.발음듣기

And why are they saying that?발음듣기

Because they say, by spending a $100,000 in the house in this way, that maybe - if you watch the Home and Garden channel, they're doing this all the time - that if you pour this a $100,000 into your house, that maybe the value of your house is going to increase by $150,000.발음듣기

Or someone else, all of a sudden, is going to perceive the value of your house as being $150,000.발음듣기

They'll say, well, you got a $50,000 return on investment.발음듣기

I'd argue that that is not investment.발음듣기

That it's speculation.발음듣기

You are, essentially, piling money into this stuff - and I'll do this in red, consumption is red.발음듣기

What's happening here truly economically?발음듣기

When you add granite, or you add an extra bathroom or hardwood floors or this extra 2,000 square feet, is it making anyone who's living in that house more productive?발음듣기

Is it making you harder working; is it making you more likely to invent the cure for cancer, or more likely to invent a way of getting cheap energy, or produce more widgets?발음듣기

No, it's just, if anything, providing more things for you to have to take care of, that you're not going to be able to focus as much on your work.발음듣기

Or more energy is going to have to be extended to maintain this type of place, to heat and cool a 2,000 square foot house.발음듣기

So if anything, by actually pouring the $100,000 here, you're actually creating something that is going to suck more out of society.발음듣기

In fact, in no way is this going to contribute to the collective wealth of society.발음듣기

The last two examples I gave contribute to the collective wealth society, some of which you share, and that is your return on the investment.발음듣기

But as a whole, this is an investment into society.발음듣기

And it's going to make the pie bigger.발음듣기

This right here, does not make the pie bigger.발음듣기

It might make you a little bit happier, make your ego feel a little bit better, let your pride grow, and your self righteousness grow, and show other people that you've arrived, but it's not going to increase the wealth of society.발음듣기

And when you say that you've invested, you are really just saying I've speculated.발음듣기

What you're saying is - by paying this $100,000, you're going to find, essentially, a greater fool out there.발음듣기

They could have done the same thing, they could have bought your house, spent $100,000 and done this, if this is what would have made them happy.발음듣기

But what you're saying is, essentially, that you're going to find somebody out there who's willing to pay $150,000 extra for something that should have only cost $100,000.발음듣기

And in fact, if anything, if you use this at all, the value of this is going to go down.발음듣기

So you're just somehow assuming that the granite counter tops that you choose are going to be the taste that someone else would like or that the hardwood floors are going to be the taste someone else would like.발음듣기

I would actually argue that when you customize your house in this way, you are creating $100,000 of consumption to your taste.발음듣기

And I'd be surprised if someone else, truly, is willing to pay more than $100,000 unless they're being, in some way, irrational or they can finance this because it's part of the mortgage.발음듣기

Anyway, this is, I think, just the big picture: investment adds value to society.발음듣기

A simple house adds value to society.발음듣기

Consumption is something where people might call it an investment because it's kind of speculation.발음듣기

One might find some other guy willing to emotionally pay more for something.발음듣기

But it's money that's burned; it's not creating more value for society.발음듣기

I continue this in the next video.발음듣기

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