Inhis1930essay“EconomicPossibilitiesforOurGrandchildren”,JohnKeynes,afamouseconomist,wrotethathumanneedsfallintotwoclasses:absoluteneeds,whichareindependentofwhatothershave,andrelativeneeds,whichmakeusf
Inhis1930essay“EconomicPossibilitiesforOurGrandchildren”,JohnKeynes,afamouseconomist,wrotethathumanneedsfallintotwoclasses:absoluteneeds,whichareindependentofwhatothershave,andrelativeneeds,whichmakeusfeelsuperiortoourfellows.Hethoughtthatalthoughrelativeneedsmayindeedbeinsatiable(无止境的),thisisnottrueofabsoluteneeds.
Keyneswassurelycorrectthatonlyasmallpartoftotalspendingisdecidedbythedesireforsuperiority.Hewasgreatlymistaken,however,inseeingthisdesireastheonlysourceofinsatiabledemands.
Decisionstospendarealsodrivenbyideasofqualitywhichcaninfluencethedemandsforalmostallgoods,includingevenbasicgoodslikefood.Whenacouplegoesoutforananniversarydinner,forexample,thethoughtoffeelingsuperiortoothersprobablynevercomestothem.Theirgoalistoshareaspecialmealthatstandsoutfromothermeals.
Therearenoobviouslimitstotheescalationofdemandforquality.Forexample,Porsche,afamouscarproducer,hasamodelwhichwasconsideredperhapsthebestsportcaronthemarketPricedatover$120,000,ithandlesperfectlywellandhasgreatspeedacceleration.Butin2004,theproducerintroducedsomechangeswhichmadethemodelslightlybetterinhandlingandacceleration.Peoplewhoreallycareaboutcarsfindthesesmallimprovementsexciting.Togetthem,however,theymustpayalmostfourtimestheprice.
Byplacingthedesiretobesuperiortoothersattheheartofhisdescriptionofinsatiabledemands,Keynesactuallyreducedsuchdemands.However,thedesireforhigherqualityhasnonaturallimits.
小题1:Accordingtothepassage,JohnKeynesbelievedthat_______.A.desireistherootofbothabsoluteandrelativeneedsB.absoluteneedscomefromoursenseofsuperiorityC.relativeneedsaloneleadtoinsatiabledemandsD.absoluteneedsarestrongerthanrelativeneeds小题2:WhatdoweknowaboutthecoupleinParagraph3?A.Theywanttoshowtheirsuperiority.B.Theyfindspecialtyimportanttomeals.C.Theirdemandsforfoodarenoteasilysatisfied.D.Thei