Psychology of previous investment

The phrase psychology of previous investment was coined by James Howard Kunstler^[1] to describe 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.^[2] The term was applied to the reluctance to abandon territories facing sea level rise such as in Florida.^[3]

See also

• Abandonment cost
• Normalcy bias
• Optimism bias
• Ostrich effect
• Pro-innovation bias
• Semmelweis reflex
• Sunk cost fallacy