The Viblin Effect

A 23-year-old junior politician on his way to the top in Rome was kidnapped by Sicilian pirates. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 20 talents of silver, which is about 6,620 kilograms today. Julius Caesar thought this idea was ridiculous and asked for more money. He didn't know it at the time, but Julius had just invented what we now know as the Veblin Effect.