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Despite Ben Franklin’s witticism, time is not money. In economic reality, money is time. That’s because we buy things with money, but we pay for them with time.
In this episode of The Soul of Enterprise, Ed and Ron explore how consumers, firms, and even the Federal Reserve are starting to measure value not in dollars, but in time well spent.
Drawing on a May 2025 article in the White Hutchinson Leisure eNewsletter, and the 1997 Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas report Time Well Spent: The Declining Real Cost of Living in America, the conversation covers:
Why experience-based businesses have been flourishing since Joe Pine and James Gilmore identified the Experience Economy
How to think about “valueflation”
The profound economic insight that goods are getting cheaper, freeing up more time to enjoy life, and spend on experiences and transformations
Whether you’re an accountant, entrepreneur, or simply a lover of liberty and leisure, this episode will challenge how you think about time, productivity, and pricing.
SHOW NOTES
Segment one
The saying "time is money" is famously attributed to Benjamin Franklin. He included it in his 1748 essay, "Advice to a Young Tradesman" https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-03-02-0130
“Time is not money. Money is time.” —George Gilder (more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gilder)
“Time is not cost. That is the important thing.” —Ed Kless on segment one of the show today
Did you know that the Federal Reserve of Dallas published a report in 1997 called, “Time Well Spent: The Declining Real Cost of Living in America” (which was called out in the book, Superabundance) https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/annual-report-federal-reserve-bank-dallas-475/1997-annual-report-596521
From the same Federal Reserve report, “Queen Elizabeth owned silk stockings. The capitalist achievement does not typically consist in providing more silk stockings for queens but in bringing them within the reach of factory girls in return for steadily decreasing amounts of effort.” —Joseph Schumpeter
Segment two
Staying with the time price of money theme, a women’s haircut in 1920 was 0.25 cents and, on average, represented 27 minutes of work. In 1950, the same haircut was $1.50 and represented 63 minutes of work. In 1997, the same haircut was $10 and represented 46 minutes of work.
Ed just went to Cosm in Dallas and had some great things to say about the overall experience in segment two of the show today. https://www.cosm.com/
From a White Hutchinson report, “Location-based entertainment and sports venues are all in the business of selling time well spent, where what people buy is the time they spend engaged at the venue.” https://www.whitehutchinson.com/news/lenews/2025/may/article107.shtml
Also from the White Hutchinson report, “A blockbuster film at a cinema usually lasts about 2 hours and costs $16 for a Saturday evening viewing. We value the time spent watching the movie at 13.3 cents a minute. But if we see it on an IMAX screen, the ticket might cost $24 or an MVT of 20 cents a minute. We consider the IMAX viewing experience at a 50% higher value for time well spent, so we will pay more for it.” https://www.whitehutchinson.com/news/lenews/2025/may/article107.shtml
Segment three
Valueflation is Joe Pine’s way of describing how the value of goods and services inflates when they are customized and transformed into experiences or transformations—even if their physical costs stay the same or go down. More here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joepine_experienceeconomy-activity-7303064924715421699-zTd5/
From the White Hutchinson report: “National Football League (NFL) games - the average 2024 ticket price was $132, and the average game length was 3 hours and 12 minutes, resulting in an MVT of 69 cents per minute. The 2024 Super Bowl had a much higher MVT (money value of time) - $18.29 per minute for the average face-value ticket sold by the NFL and $34.96 per minute for the average resale ticket price” https://www.whitehutchinson.com/news/lenews/2025/may/article107.shtml
When it comes to leisure time, this can be counterintuitive. The less educated you are, the more leisure time you have. See the attached image and then reference this report https://www.whitehutchinson.com/news/lenews/2025/may/article107.shtml
This applies to so many things and I’m not even sure the context matters. “When it comes to that human interaction, this is something that AI can’t do.” —Ron Baker
Segment four
“Here’s a New Rule for You— the 10-80-10 Rule” by Paul Dunn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/heres-new-rule-you-10-80-10-paul-dunn-okb4c/
“What to me is so exciting about the transformation economy is that this is a completely different offering.” —Ron Baker
“Immersive Experiences Are Reshaping B2B Events — And It’s About Time” by Jane Hague https://convene.com/catalyst/company-news/immersive-experiences-reshaping-b2b-events/
“Time Well Spent, Putting money where the memories are” by Patricia Cullen https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-gb/entrepreneurs/time-well-spent/491289
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