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Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

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Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#191

Post by ciconia »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #2

Being poor in general, during your childhood, scars you for life. It makes you penny wise and pound foolish, adverse to taking risks in your career and investments, can destroy your confidence in yourself, while always having to look over your shoulder monetarily speaking. Habits that even after you remove poverty from your live, you still feel the the anxiety and triggers in your head.

> scars you for life.

You could also say being poor in childhood teaches you how to be frugal. I regard this as a healthy habit and better discipline I wish I had with money (coming from a middle-class family).

Another way to look at frugality is just an aversion to spending money on whatever it is that society or mass media tell you you have to buy, an important and healthy attitude one can have, IMO.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#192

Post by usrn »

AuthorizedCust wrote: post #95
photochemsyn wrote: post #90

Mindless consumption is nothing but a disease, of the mental illness variety. People who get a dopamine burst or some similar neurotransmitter release when they go shopping have been indoctrinated into patterns of behavior that do them no good in the long run. They'll end up with a house crammed with possessions they never use, bought on a whim in order to make themselves feel better. A better mentality is to always…

> what's wrong with a steady-state economy with a stable human population We don’t have a stable population. It’s growing. We like things to get better even if we don’t have “more”. I don’t have multiple cars just for me. But the car I have now has adaptive cruise control. It costs more, it makes my driving experience better, and I’m glad I have it. Both of these, among many other factors, influence economic growth.

No it's not, most developed countries force their populations to accept immigrants to keep the population growing in order to prop up the "growth" economy.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#193

Post by olalonde »

teh64 wrote: post #141
olalonde wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The basic solution to make medicine cheaper is supply more medics. It's shocking how little this is talked about... This is so obviously the root of the problem. People like to blame the free market but there is no free market in medicine. Corporatism is to blame for artificially restricting the supply of doctors and artificially restricting who is allowed to render medical services, both of which benefit the corpo…

Even if they supply of doctors was infinite, there is still the problem of demand being basically inelastic. What would the incentive of healthcare providers to lower prices? Inelastic demand means there is no incentive to lower prices, because there is no where else for someone to go and comparison/price shop. If you are hit by a bus, there is no ability for price negotiation to get healthcare. Also blaming "corpora…

> What would the incentive of healthcare providers to lower prices?

In case of life or death emergencies, your insurance or ambulance driver would send you to a reasonably priced doctor, and doctors that charge unreasonable prices would go out of business. But my guess is that life or death emergencies do not account for most doctor visits.

> Also blaming "corporatism" is basically just a meme at this point, because it is just used by libertarians when someone criticizes capitalism. Its the same when communists say "true communism has never been tried".

Well, I don't feel like arguing about semantics. Feel free to call the problem I described however you like.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#194

Post by option »

ciconia wrote: post #191
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #2

Being poor in general, during your childhood, scars you for life. It makes you penny wise and pound foolish, adverse to taking risks in your career and investments, can destroy your confidence in yourself, while always having to look over your shoulder monetarily speaking. Habits that even after you remove poverty from your live, you still feel the the anxiety and triggers in your head.

> scars you for life. You could also say being poor in childhood teaches you how to be frugal. I regard this as a healthy habit and better discipline I wish I had with money (coming from a middle-class family). Another way to look at frugality is just an aversion to spending money on whatever it is that society or mass media tell you you have to buy, an important and healthy attitude one can have, IMO.

It’s not just frugality. Being “penny wise and pound foolish” and being risk averse is a huge drag on one’s financial opportunities.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#195

Post by mistersquid »

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #151
mistersquid wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You don't want to know how much time I spent deciding whether to use the more conventional hyphenization ("shit-ass-load") or the version with better cadence. It’s not a question of “cadence” but of grammar. “Shit-ass“ is an adjective modifying the noun “load”. Your choice is grammatically correct.

Could there not be a noun, "ass-load"?

> Could there not be a noun, "ass-load"?

Absolutely. Had the GGP wrote “shit-ass-load” the whole hyphenated string would be a noun, which is also grammatically correct.

But “shit-ass load” is a bit more evocative and digestible than “shit-ass-load”.

I would have gone your direction with “assload” (no hyphen) which is a satisfying single noun with no adjective.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#196

Post by short_sells_poo »

ciconia wrote: post #191
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #2

Being poor in general, during your childhood, scars you for life. It makes you penny wise and pound foolish, adverse to taking risks in your career and investments, can destroy your confidence in yourself, while always having to look over your shoulder monetarily speaking. Habits that even after you remove poverty from your live, you still feel the the anxiety and triggers in your head.

> scars you for life. You could also say being poor in childhood teaches you how to be frugal. I regard this as a healthy habit and better discipline I wish I had with money (coming from a middle-class family). Another way to look at frugality is just an aversion to spending money on whatever it is that society or mass media tell you you have to buy, an important and healthy attitude one can have, IMO.

I think you are both correct. It is true that people who grow up poor simply have much fewer chances to learn how to grow wealth. They may be frugal and manage the little they have with care, but that kind of mindset is not enough in general. They don't get any chance to learn how to invest money properly, because they don't have any to invest. If they do put something aside, they are encouraged (by the circumstances) to keep it as safe as possible (ie cash), which is generally a bad investment decision.

You are also right in that there are plenty of people who are high earners, but never get to actually build wealth because they spend it all. This can often be the curse of living in a high cost of living area. You see all the wealthy people driving in nice cars and living in luxury homes, and this makes it difficult to consciously deny yourself these things and live (relatively) modestly but build long term wealth instead.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#197

Post by pertymcpert »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #153
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Could you explain what you mean? Sure. I realize I waste a lot of time in supermarkets, shops or online stores, browsing/walking around and comparing prices just to penny pinch on low value things, when the savings I would make would have no meaningful impact on my yearly net worth, but the time and mental energy wasted browsing/walking around comparing prices could have better return on investment if used on other…

>I realize I waste a lot of time in supermarkets, shops or online stores, browsing/walking around and comparing prices just to penny pinch on low value things Of course it pales in comparison to cashing out your overpriced McMansion in some Karen infested suburb of a major metro with nice schools and moving to rural Idaho or switching jobs for a new one with "senior" in the title. But have you ever actually run the n…

The right answer really depends on what the opportunity cost is. If you're a FAANG engineer, the time spent trying to save small amounts of money could be better spent doing a better job at work, getting a better review, having a bigger impact, and a bigger RSU grant or even promotion.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#198

Post by [deleted] »

duffyjp wrote: post #134
seunosewa wrote: post #42

Is it fair to conclude that fossil fuel price shocks are good for the planet? If everyone experiences them early then we will all reduce our carbon footprint for life and slow global warming?

I 100% welcome higher gas prices. Americans are so wasteful it's ridiculous. It'll hurt if you're currently in an inefficient car but once you get a hybrid / EV you won't care. I don't even look at the price filling up my Prius. SUVs that look like school buses and people commuting to an office job in full size trucks is madness.

[deleted]

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#199

Post by stu2b50 »

ciconia wrote: post #191
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #2

Being poor in general, during your childhood, scars you for life. It makes you penny wise and pound foolish, adverse to taking risks in your career and investments, can destroy your confidence in yourself, while always having to look over your shoulder monetarily speaking. Habits that even after you remove poverty from your live, you still feel the the anxiety and triggers in your head.

> scars you for life. You could also say being poor in childhood teaches you how to be frugal. I regard this as a healthy habit and better discipline I wish I had with money (coming from a middle-class family). Another way to look at frugality is just an aversion to spending money on whatever it is that society or mass media tell you you have to buy, an important and healthy attitude one can have, IMO.

There’s a fine line between frugality and being stuck in a local optima. Sometimes, expensive things are better in the long run, because they serve their purpose better and last longer.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#200

Post by [deleted] »

ciconia wrote: post #191
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #2

Being poor in general, during your childhood, scars you for life. It makes you penny wise and pound foolish, adverse to taking risks in your career and investments, can destroy your confidence in yourself, while always having to look over your shoulder monetarily speaking. Habits that even after you remove poverty from your live, you still feel the the anxiety and triggers in your head.

> scars you for life. You could also say being poor in childhood teaches you how to be frugal. I regard this as a healthy habit and better discipline I wish I had with money (coming from a middle-class family). Another way to look at frugality is just an aversion to spending money on whatever it is that society or mass media tell you you have to buy, an important and healthy attitude one can have, IMO.

[deleted]
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