Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
| |||
|
| |||
| Luxury consumption: Luxury consumption in economics refers to the purchase of high-end goods and services that exceed basic needs and are often associated with status, exclusivity, and prestige. Demand for luxury items typically increases with rising income, reflecting conspicuous consumption and signaling wealth or social position. See also Consumption. _____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
| Author | Concept | Summary/Quotes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Friedrich A. von Hayek on Luxury Consumption - Dictionary of Arguments
Rothbard III 986 Luxury consumption/Hayek/Rothbard: (…) consumption [is ] the very goal of the entire economic system; let us note two stimulating contributions in recent years on hidden but important functions of luxury consumption, particularly by the "rich." Hayek: F.A. Hayek has pointed out the important function of the luxury consumption of the rich, at any given time, in pioneering new ways of consumption, and thereby paving the way for later diffusion of such "consumption innovations" to the mass of the consumers.(1) de Jouvenel: And Bertrand de Jouvenel, stressing the fact that refined esthetic and cultural tastes are concentrated precisely in the more affluent members of society, also points out that these citizens are the ones Who could freely and voluntarily give many gratuitous services to others, services which, because they are free, are not counted in the national income statistics.(2) >Affluent society/Galbraith. 1. Hayek, Constitution of Liberty, pp. 42 ff. As Hayek puts it: A large part of the expenditure of the rich, though not intended for that end, thus serves to defray the cost of the experimentation With the new things that, as a result, can later be made available to the poor. The important point is not merely that we gradually learn to make cheaply on a large scale what we already know how to make expensively in small quantities but that only from an advanced position does the next range of desires and possibilities become visible, so that the selection of new goals and the effort toward their achievement will begin long before the majority can strive for them. (Ibid., pp. 43-44) Also see the similar point made by Mises 30 years before. Ludwig von Mises, "The Nationalization of Credit" in Sommer, Essays in European Economic Thought, pp. 111 f. And see Bertrand de Jouvenel, The Ethics of Redistribution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952), pp. 38 f. 2. De Jouvenel, Ethics of Redistribution, especially pp. 6 7 ff. If all housewives suddenly stopped doing their own housework and, instead, hired themselves out to their next-door neighbors, the supposed increase in national product, as measured by statistics, would be very great, even though the actual increase would be nil. For more on this point, see de Jouvenel, "The Political Economy of Gratuity," The Virginia Quarterly Review, Autumn, 1959, pp. 515 ff._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Hayek I Friedrich A. Hayek The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents--The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Volume 2) Chicago 2007 Rothbard II Murray N. Rothbard Classical Economics. An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Cheltenham 1995 Rothbard III Murray N. Rothbard Man, Economy and State with Power and Market. Study Edition Auburn, Alabama 1962, 1970, 2009 Rothbard IV Murray N. Rothbard The Essential von Mises Auburn, Alabama 1988 Rothbard V Murray N. Rothbard Power and Market: Government and the Economy Kansas City 1977 |
||
Authors A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Concepts A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
