Re: [Pen-l] "loss of wealth" [was: Dean Baker: Getting the most bang for the stimulus buck

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

Doug Henwood wrote:
>> So studies of the effects of
>> housing wealth on consumption are looking at an imperfect proxy for
>> something, not the thing itself.

Sandwichman wrote:
> Isn't also the holding of cash an "imperfect proxy" for something
> else, namely the (subjective) "utility" provided by the goods or
> services that the money can buy?

isn't cash (or other wealth) a _means_ for attaining utility in a
market society, rather than a proxy?

by the way, at least for rich countries, it turns out that there's a
weak link between seeking utility and actually attaining measured
"happiness" (subjective well-being). (The latter is measured using
polls.)

-- 
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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