Mad Pursuits of Richistan

有興趣的朋友可以比較 Richistan的封面對於該名畫所作的"升級"

美國

《華爾街日報》將推出財富月刊

2007年09月17日17:55

《華爾街日報》發行商道瓊斯公司(Dow Jones & Co.)稱﹐該報將於週一宣佈正籌劃推出一份以《追求》(Pursuits)為名的月刊雜誌﹐定位於探尋“財富世界”。

《華爾街日報》希望憑藉該雜誌吸引包括奢侈品和旅遊行業在內的廣告客戶﹐進而提升其消費類廣告收入。新雜誌擬于明年9月面市﹐屆時它將與《華爾街日報》週六版一起遞送。讀者也可從網上免費瀏覽該雜誌﹐其內容將放在《華爾街日報》網絡版的收費區之外。

發行該雜誌的計劃是在上週道瓊斯公司高管與新東家新聞集團(News Corp.)首席執行長兼董事長魯珀特•默多克(Rupert Murdoch)進行會晤時敲定的。

自《華爾街日報》兩年前推出週六版以來﹐其生活版面一直以“追求”為標題﹐然而上週它卻以與週五版一樣的“週末刊”標題取而代之。

《華爾街日報》尚未任命新雜誌編輯﹐不過該報的財富報導記者、同時也是介紹富人生活方式的《富人國》(Richistan)一書作者羅伯特•弗蘭克(Robert Frank)深度參與了這份雜誌的構思﹐因此預計他將在其中擔任高級職務。




Richistan : A Journey through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich-US-
ISBN:9780307339263 (Hard cover book)
Frank, Robert /Publisher:Crown Pub Published 2007/06
Baker&Taylor

Table of Contents

Introduction The Birth of a Nation                 1  (12)
   Butler Boot Camp                               13 (24)
     Housetraining the New Rich
   The Third Wave                                 37 (16)
     The Era of the Instapreneur
   Making It                                      53 (12)
     Ed Bazinet, King of the Ceramic Village
   Living It                                      65 (16)
     Time Blixseth
   Losing It                                      81 (14)
     Pete Musser
   Barbarians in the Ballroom                     95 (26)
     Vew Money vs. Old
   Size Really Does Matter                        121(36)
     ``My Boat Is Bigger Than Your Boat''
   Performance Philanthropy                       157(24)
     Giving for Results
   Move Over Christian Coalition                  181(22)
     The New Political Kingmakers
   Worried Wealth                                 203(16)
     The Trouble with Money
   Aristokids                                     219(20)
     We'll Always Hake Paris
   The Wealth Gap and the Future of Richistan     239(12)
Notes                                              251(10)
Acknowledgments                                    261(4)
Index                                              265

June 5, 2007, 12:32 pm

Why Richistan? Why Now?

Today marks the release of my book Richistan, so I thought I’d answer two questions many of you have emailed me over the past few weeks: “What’s with the title?” and “What’s so new about the rich getting richer?”

The title comes from a chance meeting I had a few years ago at a yacht show in Florida. I was walking along the docks, marveling at hundreds of giant boats parked in the marina. I had seen plenty of yachts before, but never so many at once. I got to talking with a yacht owner from Texas, and as he looked out over the boats he said: “You look at all these boats and you’d think everyone was making loads of money. It’s like it’s a different country.”

The words stuck with me. The wealthy weren’t just getting wealthier — they were forming their own virtual country. They were wealthier than most nations, with the top 1% controlling $17 trillion in wealth. And they were increasingly building a self-contained world, with its own health-care system (concierge doctors), travel system (private jets, destination clubs) and language. (”Who’s your household manager?”) They had created their own breakaway republic — one I called Richistan.

As a former foreign correspondent, I decided to cover Richistan just as I would cover another country. I wouldn’t judge the rich as heroes or villains, any more than I would judge Indonesians when covering Indonesia. My job would simply be to tell the reader what their world is like and what’s happening there.

Why now? As the chart over there on the right shows, never before have so many Americans become so rich so quickly. The number of millionaire households at every level ($1 million, $10 million, $100 million) has more than doubled over the past decade. And there are no signs that the wealth explosion will slow.

The real story behind all this wealth, however, isn’t in the numbers. It’s in the people, and how they’re changing the culture and character of wealth in America. Richistan is largely about a country in flux — one in which Old Money is being shoved aside by self-made entrepreneurs, philanthropy is changing from passive check-writing to “high-engagement philanthropy,” and the progressive new rich are changing the politics of wealth. Most of all, Richistan is about the entertaining way that today’s rich are making, spending, donating and living with their wealth. (Like the guy in my book who has a house staff of 105 people.)

Yes, the rich have been getting richer for ages. But increasingly, Richistan is driving our economy, our culture and our spending habits. Or, as John Kenneth Galbraith once said, “Of all the classes, the wealthy are the most noticed and the least studied.”

I hope Richistan will help advance that study — and provide some fun stories along the way.