Comments on: Vanity Taxes vs. Worthless Competitions

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 07:10:23 +0000

“does not promote the proper function of the body”….. lol Well then what is the function of body exactly? Isn’t physical appearance and visual pleasure also part of the body’s job description?

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:40:16 +0000

Our comfort level with our bodies affects the degree to which we can be fully self-expressed and engaged in the full pursuit of life … supporting our growth and development or keeping us separate from all that we can be. Wouldn’t it be convenient to post a cosmetic change you would like to solve on the Internet and wait for qualified doctors to respond? We know how difficult it is for consumers to find reputable doctors to handle their matters and for doctors to actively seek new clients. We also recognized the enormous advantages in bringing such a match making service online.

Currently, the resources available to individuals and doctors are very limited. Word of mouth referrals might be the most common way to find a doctor, but it has several obvious flaws. It leads consumers to only a small number of doctors based on the limited experiences of a few people. Often, none of these doctors practice in the prospective patients geographical area. Yellow page ads and online directories are even poorer resources. They provide no means for doctors to distinguish themselves or to target messages to particular small business and individuals.

Finally, American Medical Association and American Dental Association referral services recommend doctors on a rotational basis, serving no one’s interests. Doctors have an equally difficult time finding new clients, particularly sole practitioners and doctors in smaller practices. Advertising is costly and subject to legal restrictions. Doctors must devote substantial efforts to generating word-of-mouth referrals; unfortunately, when doctors do receive client inquiries, they often come from clients seeking help outside the doctors’ area of expertise or at a time when the doctors are too busy for new work. Doctors need a solution that quickly and efficiently filters cases to them that fit in their schedules and expertise.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:08:42 +0000

Absolutely–the evolutionary perspective on this is great, as are Veblen’s insights about the purposes of conspicuous consumption.

My hope is that the “Green” movement will lead people to conspicuous abstemiousness!

Here’s one other take of mine on the arms-race nature of these interventions:

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/11/everyday_arms_r.html

By: David

David — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:26:47 +0000

Great post, Frank!

It strikes me that there’s a parallel between some positional goods and the evolutionary biological discussion of how many males in many species evolve traits that are specifically intended to disadvantage them in some way, to show off to potential mates that they have such a superfluity of strength that they can afford such a disadvantage.

Similarly, people value status symbols particularly because they serve no useful function–the diamond ring, the 100 ft yacht, the Hummer driven only pavement, long fingernails preventing manual labor–these are all perfectly useless by design, to show the owner’s superfluity of power.