Just as there was a tendency in times of material poverty to exaggerate what redistribution of income could do to diffuse what was then the most sought-after prerogative of the contemporary rich, their material comfort, so there is a tendency in times of material affluence to exaggerate what growth can do for diffusion of the new distinctive preserve of the rich, their positional prerogatives.

Fred Hirsch (1977). The Social Limits to Growth, p 68