Friday, November 18, 2011

Boys Will Boys

Your Captain has been spending some time researching the NIPA accounts which, among other things, breaks down GDP and spending based on product and service type. When you convert them to a percent of total spending or GDP, you get an interesting insight as to what society values. Today's NIPA account shows you what percent of personal income men/boys have spent on men/boys like things. Namely video games, guns and ammo, and "clothing."

Enjoy!


On a related note "girls will be girls" especially when it comes to guns.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is somalia without a government?.....

http://www.peterleeson.com/better_off_stateless.pdf

Trick question: a lot better off than with one.

Ryan Fuller said...

I think what we're seeing here is a comparison between luxury goods and normal goods.

As incomes rise, spending on recreational things like video games and guns (which are important aside from recreation, but most men but them for recreational purposes) will rise proportionately faster than the rise in income.

Clothes are a necessity, but most men are fine with what they've got, and a rise in income won't really result in much higher spending on clothing.

This is a cool chart that reflects spending patters on luxury goods vs normal goods under increasing income, although I don't know if it says much about changing values.

Captain Capitalism said...

Damnit Mr. Fuller,

You alwyas gotta go and ruin a good time, don't you?

Cpt.

Ryan Fuller said...

I do my best as a dismal scientist. :)