The Price of Prestige

24 chapter one

significant reduction in productivity, leading some analysts to propose

government restriction on working hours (Alvarez- Cudrado 2007 ). Inter-

national politics lack an authority that could intervene to curb spirals of

excess when those get out of control.

This highlights an important implication of conspicuous consump-

tion — it is likely to lead to costly and extravagant outcomes. Both snob

and Veblen effects tend to drive prices up and increase consumption

(Wagner 1983 , 342 ). In the example of the F- 20 fighter plane, secondary-

utility consideration led to the rejection of a cheaper plane in favor of

more expensive ones. Similarly, Kohler ( 1977 ), in one of the only direct

applications of a Veblenian approach in international relations theory,

suggests that a consumption spiral provides an explanation for arms races

and in particular an explanation for the almost constant growth in global

military capabilities and military expenditures.^46 Keynes ([ 1930 ] 1991 , 365 )

recognized these risks and warned against their ever- increasing cost:

Now it is true that the needs of human beings may seem to be insatiable. But

they fall into two classes — those needs which are absolute in the sense that

we feel them whatever the situation of our fellow human beings may be, and

those which are relative only in that their satisfaction lifts us above, makes us

feel superior to, our fellows. Needs of the second class, those which satisfy the

desire for superiority, may indeed be insatiable; for the higher the general level,

the higher still are they.

Identifying Conspicuous Consumption in

International Relations

Identifying conspicuous consumption empirically is no easy task. Actors

are rarely candid when it comes to prestige- motivated behavior. Very few

owners of luxury cars would admit that they chose those vehicles as a

means for announcing their wealth and success. Similarly, international

actors rarely use prestige as a direct justification for an expensive procure-

ment or a costly policy. In some issue areas, such as space programs or

nuclear weapons, the rhetoric of prestige is more prevalent. However, the

absence of an explicit reference to prestige considerations in an actor’s ac-

count does not mean that it was absent from the decision- making calculus.

Failing to report the role social motivations play in one’s decisions does

not necessarily stem from a conscious attempt to mislead.^47 It is the nature