Psychology of previous investment
Encyclopedia
The psychology of previous investment is a term coined by James Howard Kunstler
for the sunk costs of the modern urban/suburban lifestyle. It is the reluctance to abandon technologies
and standards of urban infrastructure
into which humans have already made substantial investments, and is seen as a major contributor to modern energy crises
.
James Howard Kunstler
James Howard Kunstler is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger. He is best known for his books The Geography of Nowhere , a history of American suburbia and urban development, and the more recent The Long Emergency , where he argues that declining oil production is likely...
for the sunk costs of the modern urban/suburban lifestyle. It is the reluctance to abandon technologies
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and standards of urban infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
into which humans have already made substantial investments, and is seen as a major contributor to modern energy crises
Energy crisis
An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...
.