The study is trying to separate pure wealth from relative wealth. There is no change in earning power due to inflation or anything like that. They are merely asking: would you rather have more wealth, more earning power, and a higher standard of living, but have less than average; or have less total earning power, wealth, and standard of living, but be above average?
Most people choose above average, because - as Slava said - they are more concerned with status than actual living standards. "As long as I am doing better than my neighbours, I don't really care how good (or bad) that actually is".
And that explains why many choose the 1700s, where standards of living were substantially lower - even for the extremely wealthy - than standards are today, even for the relatively poor.
|