Investment vs. consumption 2

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Investment vs. consumption 2발음듣기

Let's continue with this example and I welcome you to throw examples my way, and we can think about whether something is consumption or investment.발음듣기

And my argument, in general, is that investment is something good for society.발음듣기

It's good for you.발음듣기

It is capital, right?발음듣기

Or money that's being put to work to create more wealth or more capital or more good for society.발음듣기

While consumption is capital that is, essentially, being burned in some way, usually for some type of social status or ego gratification.발음듣기

Well, let's think about that.발음듣기

What about a going out once a month - Let's say a vacation, this is an interesting case.발음듣기

A simple vacation with family.발음듣기

Maybe it's a family reunion, depending on your family, it might be simple, or it might be relaxing, it might not.발음듣기

But let's assume this is a relaxing vacation.발음듣기

You're going camping, or you're going to Yosemite or something.발음듣기

It's a very peaceful, tranquil thing to do.발음듣기

So your original gut reaction would be, well, if we take a vacation, me and my family, we're going to take time off, we're not going to work, my kids aren't going to be in school.발음듣기

So you might say, oh, well, that's consumption because we're going to spend money.발음듣기

Let's say, the vacation cost $2,000, right?발음듣기

We're spending $2,000 on this vacation.발음듣기

So that might be an investment, or that might be consumption.발음듣기

So, at first you might say that's consumption, you're not going to be working.발음듣기

Once you go on that vacation, there's nothing left over.발음듣기

But there could be a counter argument here.발음듣기

There could be an argument that, by taking this simple vacation with the family, it reenters you, it bonds with your family, it makes you a happier human being.발음듣기

And it makes you more likely to be able to contribute to society once you get back home.발음듣기

And if you didn't take this vacation, you would eventually burn out.발음듣기

So in this example, and it depends on what you consider a simple vacation, I would consider that actually, probably an investment.발음듣기

Especially if it makes you more relaxed, it eases your brain, it allows you to become more creative and more productive for society.발음듣기

That could be an investment.발음듣기

That's why I think it's important that people don't overwork.발음듣기

Now, what if I were to take me and my family and we were to have someone carry us or we rode on someone's back as they swam across the ocean to go stay in golden thrones while an army of people danced for us. Right?발음듣기

So let's say, an extravagant vacation.발음듣기

So you could argue a lot of things, this is, I have a family of four and let's say it costs me $200,000.발음듣기

Well here, there's a couple things.발음듣기

There might be some part of this vacation that makes you more relaxed and might make you more productive.발음듣기

I'd argue that it is probably the opposite, the extravagant vacation is probably going to make you more stressed and probably feed your ego in ways that are in some ways self-destructive.발음듣기

But let's say that there is some component, let's stick to the benefit of the doubt, that does relax you.발음듣기

And I would say that that component is an investment.발음듣기

But you know what?발음듣기

You probably could have gotten that for $2,000.발음듣기

So we could say that $2,000 of this is something of an investment and that $198,000 of this probably is consumption.발음듣기

Because it's not making you more productive.발음듣기

Sure enough, when you go to this place, it is giving those people something to do and it is giving them jobs, but I would call that a transfer of wealth.발음듣기

This isn't investment.발음듣기

When you go to whatever country you decide to go to and you blow, essentially, $198,000 that you didn't need to just because it feels good to have the locals dote on you, you're transferring money to them.발음듣기

And then, maybe, they transfer that money to someone else, but it in no way is increasing the wealth of the world.발음듣기

It's not leading to innovation; it's not leading to more factories; and it's not leading to the pie getting bigger.발음듣기

And you know what?발음듣기

I don't even think this is, necessarily, a bad idea because, frankly, this is just the transfer of wealth from someone who needs ego gratification to a transfer of wealth from someone who's willing to do fairly simple things to, essentially, take that wealth from them.발음듣기

But, at the end of the day, it is consumption.발음듣기

And I think you can imagine, let's say, a simple purse.발음듣기

My wife goes out and buys a purse from Target and it costs $20.발음듣기

Is that consumption or is that an investment?발음듣기

Well, I'd argue that that's an investment.발음듣기

Maybe her old purse is falling apart and by having a new purse, maybe it helps her get a job, be more productive; maybe it helps her get more organized.발음듣기

So this could be an investment.발음듣기

And what about a Louis Vuitton - not to pick on them in particular - but what about a Louis Vuitton purse.발음듣기

I don't know how much they - I don't even know how to spell it.발음듣기

I think these cost upwards of $2,000, or whatever.발음듣기

Well, this, clearly, is some form of consumption.발음듣기

You could maybe make some argument that in certain circles, you could get a job if you carry around one of these purses.발음듣기

But there's some basic core value to it that you probably could have gotten with a simple purse.발음듣기

So that, maybe, is $20 of investment.발음듣기

And then the rest of it, I don't know, the other $1,980, is consumption.발음듣기

Now, I'll ask you a further question: do you think that this is bad or good for society?발음듣기

Well, I'd actually argue that it's probably neutral for society, because it does look like a quote, unquote, waste of money, this extra almost $2,000 that you spent that you really didn't have to, to get something of fairly basic utility, but that those resources weren't burned.발음듣기

Those resources went from, frankly, someone who just wanted some ego gratification.발음듣기

It went from someone's ego, essentially.발음듣기

So let's say this is you, or your ego.발음듣기

And this is Louis Vuitton, the company.발음듣기

So you gave them $1,980 that you didn't have to.발음듣기

Their cost of making the purse probably didn't cost a lot more than that simple purse.발음듣기

And in exchange, they gave you ego gratification.발음듣기

So they really didn't have to waste a lot of resources.발음듣기

They gave you all of this brand imagery that makes you feel better about yourself.발음듣기

So I would argue that this capital actually didn't get lost, it just got transferred from someone who was probably a little insecure to someone who knows how to sell to insecure people.발음듣기

And then Louis Vuitton will then have that $1,980 and then who knows, maybe they give that to their private equity friend or their venture capital friend, and then that gets invested in some new start-up idea, some solar-cell company that actually can create energy from the sun.발음듣기

And in which case, that money did not go wasted.발음듣기

So they might actually invest it in solar.발음듣기

So this, actually, was not a waste of money.발음듣기

Although, this transaction, I would agree, is consumption.발음듣기

I would say that the waste of money is all of the advertising and all the sponsorship that Louis Vuitton has to do to convince you that this will make you, somehow, a better person if you buy that purse.발음듣기

Because those ads you see on TV with those people you want to look like, that will not give you - that is not creating any net wealth for the world, or is not making the pie any bigger.발음듣기

Anyway, let me think of another example here.발음듣기

Well, let's say, so this example with the Louis Vuitton purse, this is just a transfer of wealth.발음듣기

But let's say, instead of doing that, you had your ego and instead of buying a Louis Vuitton purse, you just - so this is you - you thought it would be nice -발음듣기

but let's say, you thought it was nice, instead of buying a Louis Vuitton purse, which we established would just be a transfer of wealth - it is consumption, but at least that money doesn't disappear -발음듣기

let's say that you wanted to pay $2,000 to have - I don't know - $10 an hour, you can have 200 people dance for you and recite your name and talk about what an amazing person you are.발음듣기

This, I would argue, is pure consumption.발음듣기

Because those 200 people, sure this money gets transferred to them, but they didn't do anything productive with that time. Right?발음듣기

Those 200 people, they could have been tilling the soil; they could have been working in a factory; they could have been teaching their children how to read; they could have been doing something that was productive for society.발음듣기

But instead, they spent one hour dancing for you for your ego gratification.발음듣기

And this is, in my mind, the worst form of consumption because, not only - it's not just the transfer of wealth, it is the destruction of wealth.발음듣기

Because 200 people's time is wealth, that is capital that could be used to improve someone's life.발음듣기

But instead, this $2,000 was, essentially destroyed.발음듣기

Sure, it goes to those people, right?발음듣기

But in the end, they didn't create anything in that amount of time.발음듣기

And I'll touch more about that anyway.발음듣기

In essence, the amount of money didn't change in the system, but the amount of value in the system got degraded because all these people time got wasted.발음듣기

And, In the end, that actually leads to inflation.발음듣기

If you have more money in a system with less productive goods and services, the price for our productive goods and services goes up.발음듣기

But anyway, I'm out of time again.발음듣기

But I encourage you to think as much as you can about just this idea: when you spend money, is it consumption or is it investment?발음듣기

And I'll continue this more into kind of a lot of what the government tells you to do when the economy goes down.발음듣기

How they say, go by yourself a nice dress, instead of saying, hey why don't you go build a factory?발음듣기

Or why don't you save your money and invest in your child's education?발음듣기

Anyway, see you in the next video.발음듣기

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