The Economics of Social Capital - Volume 2

I was going to include this in the first one, but it was getting a bit long already, and it was late, and I was tired and I wasn't really firing on all cylinders. By the time I got to the end of the post, I couldn't quite find the metaphor I was looking for... I'm still not sure I have, but I'm going to try, because there's something that needs addressing.

Yesterday, I said that all personal relationships are worth the same in terms of social capital. It's hard to wrap your head around of course, because personal relationships can come in different styles and intensities. My relationship with my brother is not the same as my relationship with the doorman in my apartment building. However, yesterday I argued that they possess the same social capital. How can that be?

The thing I realized is that it doesn't matter how much money you have, the thing that matters is how you spend it. Sometimes you get a good deal and are able to use a weak connection and turn it into something great. Wayne's example was about a guy he met at a conference who in turn invited him to another function in Chicago. That was a dollar well spent. Meanwhile, your mom's dollar buys a lifetime of love, support, and nagging about eating vegetables. Another dollar well spent, but in a completely different store. You can't possibly shop in every store, and you certainly don't buy every item in the stores you do enter. Sometimes you shop for specific things and you know which store to go to. Other times, you wander around the mall until something grabs your attention and intices make a transaction. No matter how you break it down, it only matters how and where you choose to invest your social capital.

Of course, you can't put price tags on things like a personal support network or good conversation, but you can safely say that those with a lot of social capital probably afford these things a lot easier.

Next time: Professional Capital (aka - competence)