Greg Mankiw on income distribution.

[MaxManus]

Hey, is greg mankiw misreading the survey when he writes "In other words, one reason that people differ in their incomes is that some people care more about having a high income than others", the survey takes data from people who took their education on elite schools. I mean he goes from a survey of people from elite schools and makes it apply in general.

Link
http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

[John Creighto]

Hey, is greg mankiw misreading the survey when he writes "In other words, one reason that people differ in their incomes is that some people care more about having a high income than others", the survey takes data from people who took their education on elite schools. I mean he goes from a survey of people from elite schools and makes it apply in general.

Link
http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

Does it matter? I mean do we really need a survey to tell us that the priorities we set (assuming the right actions are taken to achieve these goals) make a difference in where we end up. The fact that goals and preferences matter says nothing about the extent our goals influence our outcome and the extent our goals are our influenced externaly. For instance it is much easier psychological to accept smaller goals then accept failure. (See the fable of the fox and the grapes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes )

[MaxManus]

It matters to me:-)
But thanks for the post I hadn't thought about that the influences could be influenced externaly. And I hadn't read the one about the fox and the grapes.