logoalt Hacker News

bluGilltoday at 7:31 PM2 repliesview on HN

Adam Smith observed in his "wealth of the nations" that when people get more money they almost always spend it on better housing. There is a limit to how large a house people will want before they decide not to (many rich are living in mansions smaller than they could afford - and in some cases the size of their mansion seems to be set because they want to be the biggest not because they want/use the space), but I don't know where that limit is.


Replies

zeroonetwothreetoday at 7:42 PM

I guess I’m unusual because my house is far cheaper than I could afford. It’s quite modest compared to the surrounding area.

HPsquaredtoday at 8:02 PM

"The rent of land, therefore, considered as the price paid for the use of the land, is naturally a monopoly price. It is not at all proportioned to what the landlord may have laid out upon the improvement of the land, or to what he can afford to take; but to what the farmer can afford to give." — Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter XI "Of the Rent of Land"