Marx and Equality (Was: Why Decry the Wealth Gap?)

[Brad De Long]

>Brad De Long wrote:
>
>>Chez Panisse Restaurant
>>Downstairs Dinner Menu
>>Thursday, January 27 $59
>>
>>Frisée aux lardons with foie gras, hazelnuts, and Banyuls vinegar
>>Chino Ranch salsify and wild mushroom soup
>>Grilled Willis Ranch pork loin with mustard, blood orange, and 
>>cornichons; glazed turnips and Kabocha squash purée
>>Red wine pear feuilleté
>>
>>
>>...cost: 70% of average daily U.S. GDP per capita
>
>And I desire that. Badly. Not that I have that kind of $.
>
>So what are you saying here? That it's either dried beans and 
>cabbage for all, or Chez Panisse for the few and McD's for the rest? 
>Please clarify.
>
>Doug

I've been rereading Richard Easterlin's _Growth Triumphant_--where he 
claims that the "triumph of economic growth is not a triumph of 
humanity over material wants; rather, it is the triumph of material 
wants over humanity..."--thinking about the fact that the dividing 
line between a desirable convenience and a pointless and extravagant 
luxury always seems to be at about twice one's current consumption 
level; wondering if we are doomed to be forever bridled and saddled 
by our perceived needs; and coming to no conclusions (except that it 
is a shame that I've never been to Chez Panisse for dinner)...

Brad DeLong