nemo
/
hn-classics
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Releases Wiki Activity
hn-classics/_stories/2005/11423889.md

325 lines
20 KiB
Markdown
Raw Normal View History

Initial commit
2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
[Source](http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/08/tantrums_as_sta.html "Permalink to Tantrums as Status Symbols - Marginal REVOLUTION")
# Tantrums as Status Symbols - Marginal REVOLUTION
[Marginal REVOLUTION][1]
# Tantrums as Status Symbols
by [Robin Hanson][2] on August 12, 2005 at 2:17 pm in [Economics][3], [Music][4], [Political Science][5], [Sports][6], [The Arts][7] | [Permalink][8]
Once upon a time one’s social status was clearly signaled by so many things: fragile expensive clothes, skin not worn from work, accent, vocabulary, and so on.  As many of these signal have weakened, one remains strong: tantrums.
CEOs throw more tantrums than mailboys.  Similarly [movie stars][9], [sports stars][10], and [politicians][11] throw more tantrums than ordinary people  in those industries.  Also famous for their tantrums: spoiled young wives, bigshot patriarchs, elite travelers, and toddlers.
These patterns make sense: after all, beautiful young women and successful older men are at their peak of desirability to the opposite sex.  If you are surprised that toddlers make the list, perhaps you should pay closer attention to the toddler-parent relation.  Parents mostly serve toddlers, not the other way around.
Of course, like a swagger, the signal is not so much the tantum itself as the fact that someone can get away with it.
**Addendum:** Todd Kendall has a [data paper][12] on this for NBA players.
![][13] ![][14]
Comments on this entry are closed.
Previous post: [Against Intuition][15]
Next post: [Intuition Error and Heritage][16]
* ### Our Books
![][17]
[ Buy at B&N;: The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream][18]
![][17]
[ Buy at Amazon: The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream][19]
![][20]
[Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation][21]
![][22]
[Modern Principles of Economics][23]
![][24]![][25]
[Launching The Innovation Renaissance][26]![][25]
![][27]![][28]
[The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will(Eventually) Feel Better][29]![][28]
![][30]![][31]
[Create Your Own Economy: The Path to Prosperity in a Disordered World][32]![][31]
![][33]![][34]
[Discover Your Inner Economist][35]![][34]
![][36]![][37]
[Good and Plenty: The Creative Successes of American Arts Funding][38]![][37]
![][39]![][40]
[Judge and Jury: American Tort Law on Trial][41]![][40]
![][42]![][43]
[Markets and Cultural Voices: Liberty vs. Power in the Lives of Mexican Amate Painters (Economics, Cognition, and Society)][44]![][43]
![][45]![][46]
[The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society (Economics, Cognition, and Society)][47]![][46]
![][48]![][49]
[Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures][50]![][49]
![][51]![][52]
[Changing the Guard: Private Prisons and the Control of Crime][53]![][52]
![][54]![][55]
[What Price Fame?][56]![][55]
![][57]![][58]
[In Praise of Commercial Culture][59]![][58]
![][60]![][61]
[Entrepreneurial Economics: Bright Ideas from the Dismal Science][62]![][61]
* ### Our Web Pages
* [Alex Tabarrok's Home Page][63]
* [Alex's TED talk, how ideas trump crises][64]
* [Create Your Own Economy][65]
* [FDAReview.org][66]
* [Tyler Cowen's Personal Web Page][67]
* [Tyler's ethnic dining guide][68]
* ### Contact Us
[Email Tyler Cowen][69]
![][70]][71][Follow Tyler on Twitter
][71][Email Alex Tabarrok][72]
![][70]][73][Follow Alex on Twitter][73]
* ### Blogs We Like
* [AskBlog, Arnold Kling][74]
* [Bloomberg columns][75]
* [Bradford DeLong][76]
* [Cafe Hayek][77]
* [Cherokee Gothic][78]
* [Confessions of a Supply-Side Liberal][79]
* [Conversable Economist][80]
* [Coordination Problem][81]
* [Econbrowser][82]
* [EconLog, Caplan and Henderson][83]
* [Economist's View][84]
* [Greg Mankiw's blog][85]
* [Literary Saloon][86]
* [Megan McArdle][87]
* [OilPrice][88]
* [Overcoming Bias][89]
* [Statistical Modeling (Andrew Gelman)][90]
* [The Browser][91]
* [The Grumpy Economist, John Cochrane][92]
* [TheMoneyIllusion][93]
* [Vox EU][94]
* ### Interesting People and Sites
* [ArtsJournal][95]
* [Bookforum][96]
* [Conversations with Tyler][97]
* [Economic Principals][98]
* [EconTalk][99]
* ### Resources
* [Library of Economics and Liberty][100]
* [Marginal Revolution books][101]
* [Nation Master Data][102]
* [National Bureau of Economic Research][103]
* [Resources for Economists][104]
* [StateMaster][105]
* ![MRUniversity][106]
[Marginal Revolution University][107]
[Click here to see our courses][107]
* ![][108]
[Apply Now to Mercatus Center Graduate Student Fellowships][109]
* ### Search
* * ![][110] [Subscribe in a reader][111]
![][70] [Follow Us on Twitter][112]
[Marginal Revolution on Twitter Counter.com][113]
* ### Recent Posts
* [Paywall sentences to ponder][114]
* [What is the value of studying a foreign language in high school?][115]
* [College average is over][116]
* [Quinn Slobodian’s *Globalists*][117]
* [Thursday assorted links][118]
* [What I’ve been reading][119]
* [Wednesday assorted links][120]
* [Are mark-ups rising?][121]
* [The five smallest industries by firm size][122]
* [Legal Money Illusion][123]
* [Manhattan land prices][124]
* [Tuesday assorted links][125]
* [How Building Regulations Subsidize Mansions][126]
* [*Skin in the Game*, the new Nassim Taleb book][127]
* [Why are U.S. firms holding more cash?][128]
* [Monday assorted links][129]
* [Which is the most underrated conspiracy theory?][130]
* [Randomizing Religion: The Impact of Protestant Evangelism on Economic Outcomes][131]
* [The further influence of China on Hollywood][132]
* [Tulip mania wasn’t][133]
* ### Supporters
* [Dept. of Economics, GMU][134]
* ### Categories
Categories Select Category Books  (2,759) Current Affairs  (3,903) Data Source  (1,848) Economics  (10,254) Education  (2,281) Film  (538) Food and Drink  (1,029) Games  (262) History  (2,246) Law  (2,483) Medicine  (1,285) Music  (499) Philosophy  (985) Political Science  (2,480) Religion  (506) Science  (1,740) Sports  (443) Television  (267) The Arts  (586) Travel  (434) Travels  (260) Uncategorized  (5,029) Web/Tech  (2,122) Weblogs  (123)
* ### Archives
Archives Select Month February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 0
Get smart with the [Thesis WordPress Theme][135] from DIYthemes.
[WordPress Admin][136]
[1]: http://marginalrevolution.com
[2]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/author/robin-hanson "Posts by Robin Hanson"
[3]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/category/economics
[4]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/category/music
[5]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/category/political-science
[6]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/category/sports
[7]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/category/the-arts
[8]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/08/tantrums_as_sta.html
[9]: http://www.filmjerk.com/new/article-1386--0-0.html
[10]: http://www.warwickonline.com/sports/searchnews.asp?ID=7599
[11]: http://web.mid-day.com/news/nation/2005/august/115495.htm
[12]: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=609946
[13]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_182/custom/images/comments-bubble.gif
[14]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_182/custom/images/print-40.png
[15]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/08/against_intuiti.html
[16]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/08/intuition_error.html
[17]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Complacent-Class-Cover-Image-copy.jpg
[18]: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-complacent-class-tyler-cowen/1124083738?ean=9781250108692
[19]: https://www.amazon.com/Complacent-Class-Self-Defeating-Quest-American/dp/1250108691
[20]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/average_is_over.jpg
[21]: http://www.amazon.com/Average-Is-Over-Powering-Stagnation/dp/0525953736/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2
[22]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Modern-Principles.jpg
[23]: http://www.macmillanlearning.com/Catalog/product/modernprinciplesofeconomics-thirdedition-cowen
[24]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Alex-Tabarrok_TEDBook.jpg
[25]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B006C1HX24
[26]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006C1HX24/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B006C1HX24
[27]: http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL110_&ASIN=0525952713&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=blomquistbook-20&ServiceVersion=20070822
[28]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=blomquistbook-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0525952713&camp=217145&creative=399349
[29]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525952713/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0525952713
[30]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/41cVES4I2gL._SL110_.jpg
[31]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B002XULWOS
[32]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XULWOS?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002XULWOS
[33]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/41XOGj8UoUL._SL110_.jpg
[34]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0525950257
[35]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525950257?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0525950257
[36]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/419BoTv4AeL._SL110_.jpg
[37]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0691120420
[38]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691120420?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691120420
[39]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/41DmQ21JI8L._SL110_.jpg
[40]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0945999992
[41]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0945999992?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0945999992
[42]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/512C2SXCKZL._SL110_.jpg
[43]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=047206889X
[44]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047206889X?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=047206889X
[45]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/51QndJKTkaL._SL110_.jpg
[46]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0472088378
[47]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472088378?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0472088378
[48]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/5141yfNUa%2BL._SL110_.jpg
[49]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0691117837
[50]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691117837?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691117837
[51]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/51j53aq-iPL._SL110_.jpg
[52]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0945999879
[53]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0945999879?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0945999879
[54]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/515zkPkzRRL._SL110_.jpg
[55]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=067400809X
[56]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067400809X?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=067400809X
[57]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/5182dr5uBNL._SL110_.jpg
[58]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0674001885
[59]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674001885?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674001885
[60]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/bookdisplay/41aFYvPZwML._SL110_.jpg
[61]: http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marginalrevol-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0195145038
[62]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195145038?ie=UTF8&tag=marginalrevol-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195145038
[63]: http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/
[64]: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/alex_tabarrok_foresees_economic_growth.html
[65]: http://createyourowneconomy.org/
[66]: http://www.fdareview.org/
[67]: https://www.gmu.edu/centers/publicchoice/faculty%20pages/Tyler/
[68]: http://www.tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com/
[69]: mailto:TCowen%40gmu.edu
[70]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_18/custom/images/twitter_16.png
[71]: http://twitter.com/tylercowen
[72]: mailto:Tabarrok%40gmu.edu
[73]: http://twitter.com/ATabarrok
[74]: http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/ "Arnold Kling"
[75]: http://www.bloomberg.com/view/contributors/AS6n2t3d_iA/tyler-cowen "Tyler’s Bloomberg columns"
[76]: http://delong.typepad.com/
[77]: http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/
[78]: http://cherokeegothic.com/ "The Angii"
[79]: http://blog.supplysideliberal.com/ "Miles Kimball"
[80]: http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/ "Timothy Taylor, extraordinaire, editor of JEP"
[81]: http://austrianeconomists.typepad.com/
[82]: http://www.econbrowser.com/
[83]: http://econlog.econlib.org/
[84]: http://economistsview.typepad.com/
[85]: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/
[86]: http://www.complete-review.com/saloon/index.htm
[87]: http://www.bloomberg.com/blogs/view/megan-mcardle/ "Megan"
[88]: http://oilprice.com "Oil and energy news"
[89]: http://www.overcomingbias.com/
[90]: http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/mlm/
[91]: http://thebrowser.com "Stuff"
[92]: http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/ "John Cochrane"
[93]: http://www.themoneyillusion.com/
[94]: http://www.voxeu.org/
[95]: http://www.artsjournal.com/
[96]: http://www.bookforum.com/
[97]: http://mercatus.org/conversations-with-tyler "eponymous, videos and transcripts and podcasts"
[98]: http://www.economicprincipals.com/
[99]: http://www.econtalk.org/
[100]: http://www.econlib.org/
[101]: http://marginalrevolutionbooks.com/books/2017/5 "Browse every book hyperlink posted on MR"
[102]: http://www.nationmaster.com/
[103]: http://www.nber.org/
[104]: http://rfe.org/
[105]: http://www.statemaster.com/index.php
[106]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/MRU-LogoStackedNoTagline165.png
[107]: http://mruniversity.com/
[108]: http://2378nh2nfow32gm3mb25krmuyy.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/MRAdGeneral-full.png
[109]: https://asp.mercatus.org/
[110]: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png
[111]: http://feeds.feedburner.com/marginalrevolution/feed
[112]: https://twitter.com/margrev
[113]: http://twittercounter.com/MargRev
[114]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/paywall-sentences-ponder.html
[115]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/value-studying-foreign-language-high-school.html
[116]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/college-average-is-over.html
[117]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/quinn-slobodians-globalists.html
[118]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/thursday-assorted-links-146.html
[119]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/what-ive-been-reading-119.html
[120]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/wednesday-assorted-links-146.html
[121]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/mark-ups-rising.html
[122]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/five-smallest-industries-firm-size.html
[123]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/legal-money-illusion.html
[124]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/manhattan-land-prices.html
[125]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/tuesday-assorted-links-152.html
[126]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/building-regulations-subsidize-mansions.html
[127]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/skin-game-new-nassim-taleb-book.html
[128]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/u-s-firms-holding-cash.html
[129]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/monday-assorted-links-144.html
[130]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/underrated-conspiracy-theory.html
[131]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/randomizing-religion-impact-protestant-evangelism-economic-outcomes.html
[132]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/influence-china-hollywood.html
[133]: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/tulip-mania-wasnt.html
[134]: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/
[135]: http://diythemes.com/thesis/
[136]: http://marginalrevolution.com/wp-admin/