{"id":862,"date":"2013-06-11T09:16:18","date_gmt":"2013-06-11T16:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=862"},"modified":"2013-06-11T09:16:18","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T16:16:18","slug":"paying-for-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/06\/paying-for-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Paying for position"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"no<\/a>The New York Times<\/em> reports<\/a> on Universal Studios Hollywood:<\/p>\n

\n

It has introduced a $299 V.I.P. ticket, just in time for the summer high season, that comes with valet parking, breakfast in a luxury lounge, special access to Universal\u2019s back lot, unlimited line-skipping and a fancy lunch.<\/p>\n

V.I.P. visitors also receive \u201camenity kits,\u201d which include mints, a poncho to wear on the \u201cJurassic Park\u201d water ride and bottles of hand sanitizer.<\/p>\n

Disney\u00a0still serves up its roller coasters the old-fashioned way \u2014 one rank for everyone, white collar next to blue \u2014 but Universal says it had experienced rising demand for special access and price distinctions.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsumers want what they want,\u201d said Xiomara Wiley, senior vice president for marketing and sales at Universal Studios Hollywood, which charges $80 for a no-frills ticket and $149 for one that allows for limited line-skipping.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I will speculate that those who buy the no-frills ticket don’t mind at all that for $299 visitors can get valet parking, a fancy lunch, mints and a poncho. But “unlimited line-skipping”? Children learn at a very young age about social norms governing cutting-in, and so the ability to purchase the right to do so will immediately strike many people as wrong, just as stories of those who cut-in through hiring handicapped individuals<\/a> to serve as proxy family members, or of those who simply pretend to be handicapped themselves<\/a>, are considered not just wrong but actually newsworthy<\/em> wrong. So why is paying extra for a poncho and hand sanitizer all right?<\/p>\n

If I could generalize, I think there is a distinction to be made between buying ordinary goods for consumption and buying goods that are positional<\/em> – goods that can only be had at the expense of someone else. I don’t feel an intuitive sense of being wronged when someone has the spending power and the desire to buy $50 bottles of olive oil, $5,000 suits, $100,000 cars. None of those purchases affect me. But if someone uses their spending power to gain position at my expense, then I object. This is at the root of complaints about the role of money in campaign financing: funds are spent by individuals and corporations wishing to advance their political agenda at the expense of other political claims<\/em>. It is why we think there is something wrong with an industry that serves to collect millions of dollars preparing students to do well on their SATs: such efforts are purely designed for parents who want their children to have a better position, necessarily at the expense of others<\/em>, for a chance at the limited spaces available at elite colleges. Fighting for position in these cases is worse than a zero-sum game, it’s actually a negative-sum game as resources are expended not for any increase in valuable goods, but simply to re-arrange who is at the front of the queue, either in politics or higher education. (An analysis of what happens when an economy is increasingly driven by positional goods is found in Fred Hirsch, Social Limits to Growth<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

In the long run it will be interesting to see whether the sale of VIP passes tends to lower the demand for ordinary passes. We expect it would – the experience of going to this amusement park on a no-frills ticket is now worse than it used to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times reports on Universal Studios Hollywood: It has introduced a $299 V.I.P. ticket, just in time for the summer high season, that comes with valet parking, breakfast in a luxury lounge, special access to Universal\u2019s back lot, unlimited line-skipping and a fancy lunch. V.I.P. visitors also receive \u201camenity kits,\u201d which include mints, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-dU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1728,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/12\/health-policy-is-arts-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":862,"position":0},"title":"Health policy is arts policy","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"December 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A country that provides all residents, regardless of employment status, with health insurance, presents a vastly different environment for artists than one that does not. I wrote about this recently, in the context of the November election. Whether painters, writers, and actors can try to 'make it' in their calling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"authors welcome","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bloor-health-clinic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1260,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/04\/free-pricing-and-access\/","url_meta":{"origin":862,"position":1},"title":"Free pricing and access","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Scotland has a policy of free university tuition. Today The Guardian reports: The research by Lucy Hunter Blackburn, a former civil servant with the Scottish government, estimates that free university tuition and the cuts in grants to lower-earning students means middle-class families and students will be \u00a320m a year better.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"free for whom?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/oldcollege_header2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/oldcollege_header2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/oldcollege_header2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4615,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/11\/ai-and-artists-and-rights\/","url_meta":{"origin":862,"position":2},"title":"AI and artists and rights","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"November 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a recent piece at Lawfare, by Simon Goldstein and Peter N. Salib, \u201cCopyright should not protect artists from artificial intelligence.\u201d The article has the strawman subtitle, \u201cThe purpose of intellectual property law is to incentivize the production of new ideas, not to function as a welfare scheme for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-2.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1982,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/02\/is-there-a-canadian-cultural-policy-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":862,"position":3},"title":"Is there a Canadian cultural policy crisis?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"At the Globe and Mail, Kate Taylor writes: The policy tools that have protected and nurtured Canada\u2019s cultural industries since the 1970s are unknown to transnational distributors of foreign content \u2013 that would be Google, YouTube and Netflix \u2013 while Canadian consumers are increasingly sidestepping the domestic distributors who, whether\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"a childhood favourite","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/paddle-to-the-sea.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1541,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/09\/what-have-the-romans-ever-done-for-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":862,"position":4},"title":"What have the Romans ever done for us?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"September 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Think of your cultural consumption in your late teens. It was pretty great, wasn't it? Favorite bands, and getting their new LP within days of release, favorite magazines about music and films and books, lining up to get tickets for the movie everyone in the papers was talking about. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"stones were so much better then","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/records.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3690,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2025\/01\/what-is-public-funding-of-the-arts-for\/","url_meta":{"origin":862,"position":5},"title":"What is public funding of the arts for?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"January 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Some Adam Smith as an appetizer\u2026 Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer. The maxim is so perfectly self-evident, that it would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}