" Interestingly, the urge to show off is less strong when people feel good about themselves. The experimenters found that simply writing a short essay describing a moment when the person did something she or he was proud of reduced the demand for platinum cards. This creates a vicious cycle, with people who feel economically vulnerable being particularly eager to demonstrate their worth through useless purchases they can ill-afford, and an industry all too ready to provide these services for a handsome fee. "

― Abhijit V. Banerjee , Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems