Rory Sutherland

And there are undoubtedly people who do it very, very badly. By the way, not only people who are extravagant, but actually people who are too stingy. So there's a wonderful piece of research by George Loewenstein, which looks at the fact that we all acknowledge in economics that there are people who spend too much. In other words, they get into debt. They're extravagant. They live for the moment.

And there are undoubtedly people who do it very, very badly. By the way, not only people who are extravagant, but actually people who are too stingy. So there's a wonderful piece of research by George Loewenstein, which looks at the fact that we all acknowledge in economics that there are people who spend too much. In other words, they get into debt. They're extravagant. They live for the moment.

They're probably, you know, they kind of have short time horizons and optimize for the moment to a point where they neglect their long-term wealth.

They're probably, you know, they kind of have short time horizons and optimize for the moment to a point where they neglect their long-term wealth.

They're probably, you know, they kind of have short time horizons and optimize for the moment to a point where they neglect their long-term wealth.

But George Loewenstein also made the point that correspondingly, you would expect there to be people who are not spendthrifts, he called them skinflints, who actually find the act of spending money so painful. Just the act of parting with money is something, the very transaction itself is so painful, they spend far too little. And I think he did a kind of survey on this.

But George Loewenstein also made the point that correspondingly, you would expect there to be people who are not spendthrifts, he called them skinflints, who actually find the act of spending money so painful. Just the act of parting with money is something, the very transaction itself is so painful, they spend far too little. And I think he did a kind of survey on this.

But George Loewenstein also made the point that correspondingly, you would expect there to be people who are not spendthrifts, he called them skinflints, who actually find the act of spending money so painful. Just the act of parting with money is something, the very transaction itself is so painful, they spend far too little. And I think he did a kind of survey on this.

And roughly speaking, about 40% to 50% of the population get it roughly right. And then you have a chunk of people at one end. Actually, skin flints outnumber spendthrifts, if I remember his data. So there is, I mean, one of his points is that he's a very big believer in buying experiences rather than stuff.

And roughly speaking, about 40% to 50% of the population get it roughly right. And then you have a chunk of people at one end. Actually, skin flints outnumber spendthrifts, if I remember his data. So there is, I mean, one of his points is that he's a very big believer in buying experiences rather than stuff.

And roughly speaking, about 40% to 50% of the population get it roughly right. And then you have a chunk of people at one end. Actually, skin flints outnumber spendthrifts, if I remember his data. So there is, I mean, one of his points is that he's a very big believer in buying experiences rather than stuff.

And that's one of the reasons I think Americans, by the way, should have more vacation time because Americans have quite a large non-working population, but it's all people at the beginning of life and at the end of life. And the Americans massively over-index in terms of leisure or lack of economic participation in terms of students and in terms of retirees.

And that's one of the reasons I think Americans, by the way, should have more vacation time because Americans have quite a large non-working population, but it's all people at the beginning of life and at the end of life. And the Americans massively over-index in terms of leisure or lack of economic participation in terms of students and in terms of retirees.

And that's one of the reasons I think Americans, by the way, should have more vacation time because Americans have quite a large non-working population, but it's all people at the beginning of life and at the end of life. And the Americans massively over-index in terms of leisure or lack of economic participation in terms of students and in terms of retirees.

But they're massively too busy in the middle of life. And one of the things I would argue is that if Americans spent more money on experiences, leisure travel, et cetera, which tend to be quite labor intensive, rather than, say, buying more goods, which is what you do when you have very little spare time, would the actual American economy benefit?

But they're massively too busy in the middle of life. And one of the things I would argue is that if Americans spent more money on experiences, leisure travel, et cetera, which tend to be quite labor intensive, rather than, say, buying more goods, which is what you do when you have very little spare time, would the actual American economy benefit?

But they're massively too busy in the middle of life. And one of the things I would argue is that if Americans spent more money on experiences, leisure travel, et cetera, which tend to be quite labor intensive, rather than, say, buying more goods, which is what you do when you have very little spare time, would the actual American economy benefit?

In other words, it's better off having people working in a New Orleans cafe than it is importing a Chinese device that, you know, I don't know, robotically cleans your cappuccino machine or something. Whatever it is that people are buying. Now, having said that, you've got to be very careful about dividing what is a good and what is an experience.

In other words, it's better off having people working in a New Orleans cafe than it is importing a Chinese device that, you know, I don't know, robotically cleans your cappuccino machine or something. Whatever it is that people are buying. Now, having said that, you've got to be very careful about dividing what is a good and what is an experience.

In other words, it's better off having people working in a New Orleans cafe than it is importing a Chinese device that, you know, I don't know, robotically cleans your cappuccino machine or something. Whatever it is that people are buying. Now, having said that, you've got to be very careful about dividing what is a good and what is an experience.