Ridiculous: the rich are completely satisfied

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Wheylous Posted: Mon, Dec 12 2011 4:53 PM

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The superrich command and control so many resources that they are effectively satiated: increasing or decreasing how much wealth they have has no effect on their happiness.

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2011/12/the-70-solution-taxing-the-rich-department.html#comment-6a00e551f0800388340162fdba3207970d

How can anyone put forth such a ridiculously ignorant statement? It takes no great mind to realize that if a man is satiated by his wealth he would take no further steps to accrue more of it. Since human action is the only reliable insight into utility preferences, the author is demonstrably wrong.

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Eric080 replied on Mon, Dec 12 2011 5:20 PM

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There are some things I want to do that I don't quite have the cash for.  I'll just steal a couple hundred from Brad DeLong.  I assume he's rich enough, it won't really be that big of a deal.  I'm a relatively poor college student, so the general utility of society will increase if I steal a few hundred dollars from him, so therefore he ought not mind me.

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Bebob replied on Tue, Dec 13 2011 3:33 AM

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The general idea being there that you only have the right of ownership of something if it increases your happiness.

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James replied on Wed, Dec 14 2011 6:40 AM

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It's a self-defeating argument...  If money is power, then they clearly don't have nearly enough if the government can come and take it away any time it likes.  They don't have control over those resources if someone else does.

But there's always someone riding above a populist redistribution scheme.  There's always someone who profits from the inside knowledge privy only to those who have a hand in planning such an occurence.  Somehow the Queen is still really the wealthiest and therefore the most powerful person in the Western world.

You have to keep trying to acquire more wealth when there are always people trying to take what you've got away from you.  You have to be able to afford lawyers to defend you, and lobbyists to buy favours for you, and you have to bankroll your own candidates for public office, and you have to buy your own media houses and run them at a loss to stop your opponents from using them to smear you, and you have to give out so many bribes...  It's impossible, you have to be a very rich man to live like a rich man, an extremely rich man to live like a very rich man and so on.  If you thought it was hard to win a game of king of the hill, try playing king of the pyramid.