Vitalik Buterin
@vitalik.eth
Things that are enjoyable are often also likely to be status symbols: https://stefanfschubert.com/blog/2022/4/6/status-as-a-multiplier-on-intrinsic-enjoyment In my experience far from always true: the status seems to persist much longer than the enjoyment - but still, it's an interesting argument for...
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Vitalik Buterin
@vitalik.eth
... why high sales taxes are likely to be an actually not-that-inefficient form of taxation. I can't find it anymore but I saw a result once suggesting that, taking status effects into account, the optimal sales tax might be around 40%.
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Venkatesh Rao ☀️
@vgr
This is the essential argument of Veblen’s theory of the leisure class imo, if you treat leisure = pleasure. Including the idea of conspicuous consumption = visible consumption for status.
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aerique
@aerique.eth
That guy needs to work on his prose. The blog post reads like a summary written by an AI with all the repetition of the same words and sentences.
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tldr (tim reilly)
@tldr
Status by definition takes some value from its exclusivity. So, a risk of status being associated with intrinsic value goods is incentive to artificially priced them out of reach of many, creating sheer deadweight loss for society. In this sense, I’m happy letting status be more associated with the vain or useless.
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Jon "JonnyRingo" Williams⚰️
@jonnyringo.eth
Ah, but what about the inverse effect? Ex. Drinking fine imported beer, wine, and spirits used to be a sign of status. Ex. "The Most Interesting Man" Now, with "Virtue Signalling," we see the opposite. A lack of substances partook is becoming a status symbol for more influential ppl. https://i.imgur.com/2uiQQFq.jpg
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Gudmund
@gudmund.eth
I think scarcity is more correlated with status. In terms of academics, having a PhD, being a professor or doctor are some of the most highest status things you can achieve. They are also very rare and nothing in the literature really suggests they are more enjoyable than other occupations, quite the contrary.
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