The "psychology of previous investment" was coined by
James Howard Kunstler
James Howard Kunstler (born October 19, 1948) is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger. He is best known for his books ''The Geography of Nowhere'' (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, ''The Long ...
to describe the
sunk costs
In economics and business decision-making, a sunk cost (also known as retrospective cost) is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are contrasted with '' prospective costs'', which are future costs that may be ...
of the modern urban/suburban
lifestyle
Lifestyle often refers to:
* Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives
* ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle
* Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality
Lifestyle may also refer to:
Bu ...
. It is the reluctance to abandon
technologies
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
and standards of urban
infrastructure into which humans have already made substantial investments, and is seen as a major contributor to modern
energy crises
An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...
.
See also
*
Abandonment cost
Abandonment costs or Abandonment expenditure (ABEX) are costs associated with the abandonment of a business venture.
Abandonment costs traditionally applied to the process of abandoning an under-producing or non-producing oil or gas well. In tha ...
*
Sunk cost fallacy
References
The Psychology of Previous Investment - Raise the Hammer
- Remarks on the subject from Kunstler's website
Investment
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