The Different Kinds of Values

The previous chapter explained that value is totally subjective and ultimately based on one’s desires.

There are 2 kinds of economic values:

1. Use Value

This is generated by the self, without caring what others think or feel. This is the basis for personal budgeting.

For example, you are traveling, carrying a 1-liter water bottle. You have to budget the amount of water that you drink to make sure that that 1 liter will be enough for your travel.

2. Exchangeable Value

This is generated by society through relational* exchange. This requires what others think or feel.

For example, you have a store that sells bottled water. You have to price and advertise that water to make sure that all are sold before they expire. This is far more complex than personal budgeting.

The relational nature of exchangeable value leads to relational pricing.

Relational Pricing

Suppose Barry and Adam are walking at a commercial street. They see a cake at a bakery, and an iguana at the pet store next to it.

Barry might not see value in the cake, but Adam might, as he might want it for his wife’s birthday tomorrow.

The value of the cake to Adam comes from:

• the inherent nature of their culture* to impose gift-giving during birthdays, and
• the inherent nature of the cake as a kind of birthday gift, arising from the culture.

In contrast, the iguana does not have an inherent nature of being a gift. This is why Adam would not assign a value to an iguana.

• Adam would only assign a value to Iguana if his wife were an Iguana-lover (had the inherent nature of loving iguanas).
• In this case, he might ignore the cake and inquire about the iguana.

Thus, value is always relational or relativistic depending on the inherent nature of many things.

In this case, the value of the cake will depend on:

• Adam’s need for a cake. We call this the useful value or ‘use-value’.
• Adam’s love for wife. We call this ‘sentimental value’.
• Adam’s wife having a birthday event and Adam’s society* and culture imposing the need to give gifts during birthday events. We can call this the ‘cultural value’

Unlike Economics, Supereconomics, takes into account cultural value and sentimental value. There are other values like environmental value, historical value, moral value, etc. which will be explained in future editions.