Something to be careful not to do here is: if you have people who are either earning a lot or doing equivalently valuable non-earning work, consumption can boost productivity, both:
in very obvious direct ways, e.g. if you order takeaway, you don’t have to spend time on meal prep, if you can improve your sleep by buying a fancy bed that might be worth it, etc
in a more indirect sense, being frugal is hard work and will wear you down. If you find that attention or mental effort is a limited resource for you, trying hard to minimise costs may be false economy. In general, it may be easier to get $X of value by increasing your income / useful work by $X than by decreasing your costs by $X. All else equal, you should prioritise these two things the same.
I’m not saying this is obviously incompatible with the levels of consumption or saving that you suggest, just that the best level of consumption is dependent on local circumstances, and I don’t think there’s any particular reason to expect it to line up with per capita GDP particularly well.
Thanks for raising those points! I definitely agree they are important. Ultimately, the goal is equalising the marginal utility of the resources going towards consumption, savings, and donations.
Something to be careful not to do here is: if you have people who are either earning a lot or doing equivalently valuable non-earning work, consumption can boost productivity, both:
in very obvious direct ways, e.g. if you order takeaway, you don’t have to spend time on meal prep, if you can improve your sleep by buying a fancy bed that might be worth it, etc
in a more indirect sense, being frugal is hard work and will wear you down. If you find that attention or mental effort is a limited resource for you, trying hard to minimise costs may be false economy. In general, it may be easier to get $X of value by increasing your income / useful work by $X than by decreasing your costs by $X. All else equal, you should prioritise these two things the same.
I’m not saying this is obviously incompatible with the levels of consumption or saving that you suggest, just that the best level of consumption is dependent on local circumstances, and I don’t think there’s any particular reason to expect it to line up with per capita GDP particularly well.
Hi Ben,
Thanks for raising those points! I definitely agree they are important. Ultimately, the goal is equalising the marginal utility of the resources going towards consumption, savings, and donations.