Fragwuerdige Luxussteuern: Statusstreben und Demonstratives Konsumverhalten in der Geschichte Oekonomischen Denkens (Questionable Luxury Taxes: Status Seeking and Conspicuous Consumption in the History of Economic Thought); Discussion paper

摘要

In the history of economic thought the concepts of luxury, status seeking, and conspicuous consumption have been seen as highly divergent. Thus, it is hardly surprising that economic advice with respect to a possible governmental intervention varies with time and perspective. This discussion paper provides an overview of how conspicuous consumption has been seen in the history of economic thought, and outlines the connection between recent contributions and historical thinking on the issue. On the one hand, recent policy recommendations are often based on the arbitrary definition of status seeking as a zero sum game and partly on an incorrect welfare comparison. On the other hand, specific characteristics of the market demand function for status goods make the taxation of luxuries a venture with incalculable outcomes. Taking these results into account, luxury taxes are hard to justify and extremely difficult to design.