Larry Page's yacht, Senses, now docked in St. Maarten. (marinetraffic.com)

Google co-founder Larry Page’s recent purchase of an 187-foot, $45 million yacht is a classic case of “conspicuous consumption.” The term, coined by  economist Thorstein Veblen, refers to  “the waste of money and/or resources by people to display a higher status than others.”

As an investment the purchase of the yacht, dubbed “Senses,” makes little sense, as one commenter to Business Insider notes. The purchase is an intentional waste of money designed to prove something we already knew: that Page has the capacity to waste more money than most of us will have. Continue reading »