Concerning Robin's point about the details of the relative coonsumption
models, Steven Landsburg made the same point in a review of one of
Frank's books in The Independent Reviewhttp://www.independent.org/tii/content/pubs/review/TIR42Landsberg.html Here are a few excerpts "But it�s hard to refute Frank�s story decisively, because his story keeps changing. First he says we want to consume more than our neighbors; then before long he says we want to earn more income than our neighbors. Those are different things, but Frank flits from one to the other as if they were the same. As for why we care about relative consumption (or relative income) in the first place, Frank is equally slippery. Are we psychologically hard-wired to care about relative position for its own sake? Or do we care about relative position because it helps us compete for goods�such as mates�that are distributed outside the economic marketplace? Either hypothesis could be the germ of a respectable theory, and each of them probably contains an element of truth, but they are surely distinct hypotheses, with distinct implications; and it�s not always clear which one Frank has in mind. Frank is at his most incoherent when he asks the question of �Why now?�..." (I actually think this is a little hard on Frank who is working on new territory. Perhaps a kinder response would be that models need to be carefuly distinguished and appropriately tested.) Alex -- Dr. Alexander Tabarrok Vice President and Director of Research The Independent Institute 100 Swan Way Oakland, CA, 94621-1428 Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
