Since the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street movement, more and more attention has been drawn to the 1% -- the economic elite who possess an enormous amount of wealth relative to the rest of society (the 99%). Even within the 1% is an even smaller class of super-rich families who possess assets that are hard for many of us to even conceptualize. The clash between the interests of the rich and everyone else seems to be gaining momentum in American politics especially since Mitt Romney, if elected, would be among the richest sitting Presidents of all time.
With each longread this week, we'll explore the world of the rich. Today's article is several years old but looks at the "Billionaire Service Industry." As the name implies, this is an entire component of the economy that has arisen specifically to meet the tremendous demands of the super-rich.
"Inside the Billionaire Service Industry" by Sheelah Kolhatkar
Published in the Atlantic, September 2006
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2006/09/inside-the-billionaire-service-industry/5117/
Eric
Indeed.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in what people think about her prediction in the last paragraph that America is moving towards guarded complexes for the ultra wealthy as the have and have-nots continue to grow far apart. What do people think?
ReplyDeleteI think it may not happen in quite that sense (in terms of building a fortress or something like that), but segregation, flight from urban areas, gated communities, and things of this nature certainly represent the same impulse.
ReplyDeleteEric