The subject 'ECONOMICS' in college & the Veblen Effect?

Interesting, yes! … A great psychological game being played over thousands of years and generations. The sad part is, despite so much of knowledge, technology advancements, information availability …
'Veblen Effect' is still used; to play with the minds & perceptions of the 'Dumb Hominids' among us.
Here's an interesting read -- on the topic.
At 23, Julius Caesar was a junior Roman-politician on the way up. But he had an advantage: 'confidence and brains'.
Sailing across the Aegean Sea, he was captured by Sicilian pirates. They demanded a ransom of 25 talents of silver. (That’s about 620kg, worth about, $700,000)
Caesar told them they were being ridiculous. He couldn’t possibly allow himself to be ransomed so cheaply. The pirates hesitated; they were confused.
Caesar insisted the ransom must be raised to 50 talents of silver. (~ 1,240kg, worth $1.5M)
Now the pirates didn’t know what to make of this. Normally, their captives tried to escape as cheaply as possible. They didn’t understand what was going on. But if he is doubling the ransom, why argue?
They let Caesar’s men go back to Rome to raise the money. But in Rome, in his absence & the large ransom from the pirates; Caesar suddenly became very famous, highly acclaimed Roman.
No-one had ever been ransomed for such an enormous sum, ever before. He must be a very special politician; he must be an incredibly important Roman. That ransom demand put Caesar on the political map and made him famous.
He had just invented the 'Veblen effect'. Although 'Thorstein Veblen' wouldn’t give it that name; for another 2,000 years.
'Veblen effect' is when consumers perceive higher-priced goods, to be 'surely much better'; simply because they cost more.
Just like: Rolex, Cartier, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin, Harrods, Cristal Champagne …
None of them are actually any better & perform just as-well-as, the cheaper alternatives; but the price alone, makes them seem 'more better and hence desirable'.
Caesar had effectively made himself a 'Veblen brand'. He’d placed a much higher value on himself, greater than anyone else in Rome. But, as far as anyone in Rome thought, it wasn’t him who had done it! It was independent evaluation, by the pirates. So it must be 'a true valuation'
Because Caesar was so highly valued, his men had little trouble raising the ransom money and returned to the island & freed him.
But Caesar wasn’t going to allow the pirates to keep the ransom-money. Now as an important and famous man, it was easy for him to raise a huge Roman Army.
He hunted down the pirates and took back all the money, plus everything else they had pillaged; then executed all of them. ('Way-to-Go'-- Julie Baby!)
So, Caesar was now both: very-rich and very-famous. Over time, with that same combination of confidence & brains, he became 'Emperor of Rome' & presided over the golden age of the 'Roman Empire'. Expanding it first from Spain to Germany, & later from Britain to the Middle East.
Caesar knew that: 'Reality, can be just a concept; in the Human-mind'.
So, the most important place, in which to 'assert a claim of greatness' -is the human mind. And one can control another's mind, by 'creating a perception'. Then expand that perception, by controlling the 'context & content'. Control the these two & you control the mind.
Control the mind & you control …'perceptions of reality'
A good example of Veblen effect is -Johnnie Walker Double Black- Scotch Whisky.
'JW Black' is labelled as 12 years aged scotch. But 'JW Double Black' -has no age statement!
'JW Double Black' is sold at higher price than 'JW Black' with a perceived notion implied, that 'Double Black' should be much better than just 'Black'; especially since Double Black is pricier than Black! …That is how the average human mind works.
In reality no one knows what is so special in 'Double Black' except that the label claims it is very smooth, without actually saying it's smoother than Black! Many believe that this is simply a marketing strategy to pass off un-aged scotch at much higher price, through 'Veblen effect'!
The 'Veblen effect' is a highly successful marketing strategy; when used correctly.
WWG1WGA
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