I think you bring up a good point, but rather than being zero-sum, signaling can be either socially beneficial or detrimental compared to no signaling, depending on the details of the situation, so in theory removing a signaling tool can make us either richer or poorer. I’m not sure if economists have a consensus on whether signaling is typically good or bad, and would be curious if anyone knows this.
I think you bring up a good point, but rather than being zero-sum, signaling can be either socially beneficial or detrimental compared to no signaling, depending on the details of the situation, so in theory removing a signaling tool can make us either richer or poorer. I’m not sure if economists have a consensus on whether signaling is typically good or bad, and would be curious if anyone knows this.