I think my sister-in-law exemplifies the ‘economic
cost’ theory perfectly. She never learns to drive, cook, clean the house, make the bed or her own coffee, or water the plants, sweep the floor or even stroll outside the gate of her mansion! She has a personal driver and 6 live-in maids to do all the household and personal tasks for her so she could concentrate 100% on her share market investments. And she happily met her ‘economic cost’ target and became immensely rich to employ maids, servants, advisors and other staff to do all the ‘non-essential’ work for her. When she visited Sydney last year, she tried to venture out on own for the first time without her personal driver picking her up from the basement of her room and, not knowing how to look left and right for traffic, she was knocked down by a passing bicycle in front of her hotel. She fell, bruised herself and was badly shaken. This is a true story.
‘Economic cost’ makes good sense in preparing budgets, financial plans and optimising profit but the unwavering pursuit of it the can also be detrimental in the long run to one’s personal health and well-being as well as to a wholesome development of one’s character and spiritual growth. Life is much more complex than just learning about opportunity costs to optimise monetary values.
One question: Maha Maha Khumb Mela aside which occurs only once every 144 years, what is the annual economic costs of supporting tens and thousands of Naga Sadhus in India? Can cultural value be measured with economic costs theory?
Thank you so much, Geemeng, for such a thoughtful comment and engaging with the post. No, cultural value cannot be measured with economic costs theory. However, economics is not just a measurement tool; it's a framework to understand the world around us better. So, we don't need to measure the economic costs of culture but to measure its economic impact on the people attending those cultural events.
I think my sister-in-law exemplifies the ‘economic
cost’ theory perfectly. She never learns to drive, cook, clean the house, make the bed or her own coffee, or water the plants, sweep the floor or even stroll outside the gate of her mansion! She has a personal driver and 6 live-in maids to do all the household chores and personal tasks for her so she could concentrate 100% on her share market investments. And she happily met her ‘economic cost’ target and became immensely rich to be able to employ maids, servants, advisors and other staff to do all the ‘non-essential’ work for her. When she visited Sydney last year, she tried to venture out on own for the first time without her personal driver picking her up from the basement of her room and, not knowing how to look left and right for traffic, she was knocked down by a passing bicycle in front of her hotel. She fell, bruised herself and was badly shaken. This is a true story.
‘Economic cost’ makes good sense in preparing budgets, financial plans and optimising profit but the unwavering pursuit of it the can also be detrimental in the long run to one’s personal health and well-being as well as to a wholesome development of one’s character and spiritual growth. Life is much more complex than just learning about opportunity costs to optimise monetary values.
One question: Maha Maha Khumb Mela aside which occurs only once every 144 years, what is the annual economic costs of supporting tens and thousands of Naga Sadhus in India? Can cultural value be measured with economic costs theory?
I think my sister-in-law exemplifies the ‘economic
cost’ theory perfectly. She never learns to drive, cook, clean the house, make the bed or her own coffee, or water the plants, sweep the floor or even stroll outside the gate of her mansion! She has a personal driver and 6 live-in maids to do all the household and personal tasks for her so she could concentrate 100% on her share market investments. And she happily met her ‘economic cost’ target and became immensely rich to employ maids, servants, advisors and other staff to do all the ‘non-essential’ work for her. When she visited Sydney last year, she tried to venture out on own for the first time without her personal driver picking her up from the basement of her room and, not knowing how to look left and right for traffic, she was knocked down by a passing bicycle in front of her hotel. She fell, bruised herself and was badly shaken. This is a true story.
‘Economic cost’ makes good sense in preparing budgets, financial plans and optimising profit but the unwavering pursuit of it the can also be detrimental in the long run to one’s personal health and well-being as well as to a wholesome development of one’s character and spiritual growth. Life is much more complex than just learning about opportunity costs to optimise monetary values.
One question: Maha Maha Khumb Mela aside which occurs only once every 144 years, what is the annual economic costs of supporting tens and thousands of Naga Sadhus in India? Can cultural value be measured with economic costs theory?
Thank you so much, Geemeng, for such a thoughtful comment and engaging with the post. No, cultural value cannot be measured with economic costs theory. However, economics is not just a measurement tool; it's a framework to understand the world around us better. So, we don't need to measure the economic costs of culture but to measure its economic impact on the people attending those cultural events.
I think my sister-in-law exemplifies the ‘economic
cost’ theory perfectly. She never learns to drive, cook, clean the house, make the bed or her own coffee, or water the plants, sweep the floor or even stroll outside the gate of her mansion! She has a personal driver and 6 live-in maids to do all the household chores and personal tasks for her so she could concentrate 100% on her share market investments. And she happily met her ‘economic cost’ target and became immensely rich to be able to employ maids, servants, advisors and other staff to do all the ‘non-essential’ work for her. When she visited Sydney last year, she tried to venture out on own for the first time without her personal driver picking her up from the basement of her room and, not knowing how to look left and right for traffic, she was knocked down by a passing bicycle in front of her hotel. She fell, bruised herself and was badly shaken. This is a true story.
‘Economic cost’ makes good sense in preparing budgets, financial plans and optimising profit but the unwavering pursuit of it the can also be detrimental in the long run to one’s personal health and well-being as well as to a wholesome development of one’s character and spiritual growth. Life is much more complex than just learning about opportunity costs to optimise monetary values.
One question: Maha Maha Khumb Mela aside which occurs only once every 144 years, what is the annual economic costs of supporting tens and thousands of Naga Sadhus in India? Can cultural value be measured with economic costs theory?