China's new rich still hooked on bling
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Both old and new money do seem to share some affinity for the finer things in life, like luxury brands, fast horses and fine wine. But the motivations are different.
New money wants the objects to give them face by calling attention to the wealth of the owner. Old money usually buys luxury goods for the quality of the craftsmanship or the enjoyment which they bring, rather than for what the logo or the label screams out to others.
Another point of departure between old and new money is charity. Most nouveau riche want to hold on to their money or give it to their personal favorite charity: themselves and their family.
This is why I correctly predicted in these pages that Warren Buffett's and Bill Gates' now famous dinner asking China's rich to give away most of their fortune would be a spectacular failure.
In the US and Europe, sometimes motivated by favorable tax laws which encourage giving or by a sense of noblesse oblige, people give to charity, as the rich will surely one day do in China. At least the newly wealthy in China do pay to attend charity events, not so much to help others but to ensure that they can see and be seen with other glitterati.
And being on Hoogewerf's rich list is not without its liabilities. Have you ever gone to Venice and seen the beautiful palaces along the canals? Did you wonder why they have small windows and are in a state of disrepair? Could it possibly be that those old moneyed families didn't want the tax collector to know what taxable riches lay within?
These people were smart enough to fly beneath the radar long before radar was invented. Not so the people on the rich list, some of whom now involuntarily live very modestly as long-term guests of the state.
The author is former director and vice president at ABC Television. hdzodin@ hotmail.com
