From the article sighted by MKC... this is a riot:
After all, making $10 million in a good year doesn't mean Eric is really all that
rich, at least not by the standards of his world. It's not like he flies around in his
own private plane the way some of his friends do. "A jet-share program -- that is
the way to spend some money," he says. Indeed. First, it takes a deposit of a
million, borrowed and paid off at 7 percent, like a mortgage -- $70,000 a year.
After that, a share of the jet costs about $6,000 a month, plus $2,500 an hour
while you use it. "You get a jet with an eight-seat cabin. Eight people at $2,500
an hour -- $300 a head, if you fill it up. That's cheaper than flying first-class. If
you're running a company, every company needs a jet! And it's very convenient.
If you want to leave Nantucket at 2 a.m. to get back to the Downtown Athletic
Club for your last hit of ecstasy at 3 a.m., it will take you!"
From such lofty heights, it can be hard to figure out just what all the ants are
doing down below. Eric, for example, can't figure out why anyone would open
another bodega in New York -- the return has got to be lousy, so why not just
put that money in the market? He agrees with Jacob, the former lawyer: While
New York's cost of living is propelled by the rising prices of stocks, real estate,
and other financial assets, trying to make money by selling your labor feels like
a losing proposition. "I don't think there is a middle class in New York anymore,"
he says. "There is no Joe Six-pack here. You are either really rich and getting
richer and you don't care, or you are really poor and getting poorer and you
should move someplace else as fast as you can."
ho ho ho...
DAK |
