Something must be done about this right away!" But as soon as this billionaire acquires a fifth pool then her mind will spy another useless indicator of wealth that she feels she needs to acquire.
When this model creaked and crashed, the Asian crisis was about solving the mismatch of low return on investments, the banks' useless loans and savers' wealth.
And it appears that Speusippus and Xenocrates did think that there were non-moral goods; Plutarch, in De communibus notitiis adversus Stoicos 13. 1065a (Cherniss 1976 pp. 704, 705) refers to Speusippus and Xenocrates as "thinking that health is not indifferent and wealth not useless".
But I collected a wealth of useless items like refrigerator magnets, key-chain flashlights, and business cards, and when the afternoon ended I felt great: The recruiters knew me now, so it was only a matter of time until one of them called me up and offered me a great job.
Over two centuries ago, Herophilus, the anatomist-physician in whose tradition we now follow, once remarked, "When health is absent, wisdom cannot revel itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied".
Too much concentrated wealth is not only useless, but is destructive.
As Adam Smith argued when he proposed a land tax, this isn't productive wealth: it's overwhelmingly unearned and useless, so there is no reduction in economic activity if we go after it.
His criticism of the pursuit of useless luxuries (B3) also anticipates Socrates' rebuke of his fellow citizens for caring more about wealth and power than about virtue (cf. Apology 30b).
"The ultimate useless horology complication for the 21st century must be the striking watch — functionally useless but exquisitely expressing exclusivity, wealth and luxury," Dr. Teillol-Foo said.
Even for families with wealth and connections — the Cazareses' ranks include government contractors and engineers with decades of government service — Mexican law enforcement is virtually useless.
