NYT: For Rich, ’13 Was Good for Making, and Spending, Money
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/business/for-rich-13-was-good-for-making-and-spending-money.html?_r=0
The ultrarich shattered many records last year, buying notable works of art, shiny baubles and sleek toys. A rare 1967 Ferrari Spider went for $27.5 million. Francis Bacon’s “Three Studies of Lucien Freud” sold for $142.4 million. And 12 bottles of 1978 Domain de la Romanée-Conti, described by one expert as “as close to perfect as wine gets,” landed in someone’s collection for a cool $476,405.
The world’s club of ultrawealthy individuals, or those with $30 million or more in net assets, added about 5,000 new members last year and now stands at around 167,000, according to the latest Wealth Report, an annual compendium of all things rich from Knight Frank, the property management firm. Over the last decade, the ranks of the über-rich have swelled by 59 percent, and the register of billionaires climbed 80 percent, to 1,682, according to Knight Frank’s data.
...
If the wealthy made a mistake en masse last year, it was holding gold, which fell about 28 percent. A big chunk of the respondents in the survey said they would probably reduce their stake in the metal this year. The ultrarich, however, continue to collect jewelry, watches and wine, while the biggest jump in popularity went to art.
An index of classic cars has had a five-year gain of 121 percent. Coins have risen 91 percent and rare stamps are up 50 percent.
So how do they create jobs through stamp collecting? Somehow that dynamic is lost on me.