The Economic Untouchables
The Boston Globe Worships the Wealthy Elite
Only U.S. Elite Need Apply
The Comfortable Class Above It All
And yet this shit article leads the business section:
"Time to tone things down?; After several years of conspicuous consumption, some yearn for a return to Boston's frugal roots" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | October 7, 2008
Every binge has a morning after. As financiers, small business owners, and blue-collar workers wake up to volatile markets and an uncertain economy, some are casting a skeptical eye on the ostentatious wealth and conspicuous consumption that swept into Greater Boston in recent years.
The go-go era, a departure from a Yankee culture of restraint and frugality, produced such opulent monuments as the $21 million Weston mansion built by a hedge fund manager, the luxury Natick Collection shopping emporium, and the $300 million Mandarin Oriental hotel, which opened yesterday on Boylston Street.
It also left some Bostonians pining for the more austere habits and disciplined investing style of an earlier time. That juxtaposition can be seen in the wealthy suburb of Weston, dotted with expensive but tasteful Colonial homes. Hedge fund manager Jim Pallotta, a co-owner of the Boston Celtics basketball team, is building a 21,000-square-foot mansion on 27.5 wooded acres near Regis College. About a mile away, the Puopolo Hardware store is closing after 30 years in Weston Center.
Store owner Paul Puopolo said he's retiring. But he also complained his business has been hurt by big-box stores and a growing taste for lower prices, even among affluent Weston residents.
John Caldwell, an out-of-work Dorchester house painter, leaned against a tree on Boylston Street in the Back Bay recently, flagging down passersby for spare change. Across the street, workers were putting the final touches on the Mandarin Oriental, where rooms are priced at more than $500 a night."Five hundred dollars a night?" Caldwell said, shaking his head. "People are barely making it right now." Others nearby said they were amazed to learn condominiums at the Mandarin Oriental have sold for as much as $14 million. --more--"
Maybe the richers are really getting worried about the American public exactin vengeance upon their greedy, evil asses! And WELL THEY SHOULD BE!!!!
The Chinese Solution to Wall Street's Woes
The Indian Solution to Wall Street's Woes
