I think this doesn’t take into account two things:
The line between “spending on yourself” and “giving to charity” is thin.
Signaling arms races.
For example, suppose I am a billionaire. I’ve got my mansions in every city, my helicopter, my private island, and a vault full of gold that I can dive into, Scrooge McDuck style. What more can I want?
In a word: intangibles. I’ve purchased joy, security, and freedom; now I want respect. I want people everywhere to love me, and my name to be synonymous with goodness and benevolence.
So I give to charity. But so does everyone, right? My friend/rival Bob—also a billionaire—has just given five hundred million dollars to save cute puppies in war-torn countries. TIME magazine man of the year! Me? I’m a footnote on page 40.
The more money I make, the more I can give. The more I can give (and/or spend on other things! there’s more than one way to reap the intangible benefits of fame, after all), the more I gain—in real benefit, to myself, personally.
My marginal utility of money, then, is far greater than zero.
I think this doesn’t take into account two things:
The line between “spending on yourself” and “giving to charity” is thin.
Signaling arms races.
For example, suppose I am a billionaire. I’ve got my mansions in every city, my helicopter, my private island, and a vault full of gold that I can dive into, Scrooge McDuck style. What more can I want?
In a word: intangibles. I’ve purchased joy, security, and freedom; now I want respect. I want people everywhere to love me, and my name to be synonymous with goodness and benevolence.
So I give to charity. But so does everyone, right? My friend/rival Bob—also a billionaire—has just given five hundred million dollars to save cute puppies in war-torn countries. TIME magazine man of the year! Me? I’m a footnote on page 40.
The more money I make, the more I can give. The more I can give (and/or spend on other things! there’s more than one way to reap the intangible benefits of fame, after all), the more I gain—in real benefit, to myself, personally.
My marginal utility of money, then, is far greater than zero.