<div class="float-left position-relative margin-top-minus-22"><span class="small"> From </span><span class="byline">The Sunday Times</span> </div> <div class="float-right text-right position-relative margin-top-minus-20"><!-- this will be populated from CMS --><!-- BEGIN: Module - Advert:Top --><!-- For Travel Search --> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var RStag = ""; try{ RStag = segQS; } catch(e){ RStag = ""; } document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/women.timesonline.co.uk/fashion;cat=;pos=sponsor;sz=143x50;'+ RStag +'tile=2;'+categoryValues+'ord='+randnum+'?"><\/script>'); //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/women.timesonline.co.uk/fashion;cat=;pos=sponsor;sz=143x50;seg0=J05530_10427;seg1=J05530_10311;seg2=J05530_10584;seg3=J05530_10832;seg4=J05530_10792;seg5=J05530_10703;tile=2;ord=1224454081606?"> </script><a href="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/375e/3/0/%2a/e%3B127171314%3B0-0%3B0%3B12898511%3B4357-143/50%3B22160321/22178211/1%3B%3B%7Eaopt%3D2/1/db/0%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk" target="_blank"> <img src="http://m.uk.2mdn.net/720796/1x1.gif" border="0" width="1" /></a><noscript><a href="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/women.timesonline.co.uk/fashion;pos=sponsor;sz=143x50;tile=2;ord=1224453638704?"></a></noscript><!--SECTIONarameter parameter="dart.server" /--><!-- END: Module - Advert:Top --> </div> <div class="small color-666"> October 19, 2008 </div> <h1 class="heading">Has anyone told the rich? </h1> <h2 class="sub-heading padding-top-5 padding-bottom-15">For some people it's like nothing's happened </h2><!-- END: Module - Main Heading --><!--CMA user Call Diffrenet Variation Of Image --><!-- BEGIN: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image (a) --><!-- getting the section url from article. This has been done so that correct url is generated if we are coming from a section or topic --> <!-- Print Author name associated with the article --> <div id="main-article"> <div class="article-author"><!-- Print Author name from By Line associated with the article --><span class="small"></span><span class="byline"> Claudia Croft </span> </div> </div><!-- END: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image --><!-- Article Copy module --><!-- BEGIN: Module - Main Article --><!-- Check the Article Type and display accordingly--><!-- Print Author image associated with the Author--><!-- Print the body of the article--><!-- Pagination --> <p> Leave the penny pinching to the recessionistas. For some, the boom hasnât ended. Incredibly, the good times were still rolling at Boucheronâs 150th anniversary party, held in London earlier this month, the same day that global markets tumbled and the government unveiled its £400 billion bank bail-out. The jewellery house gathered its favourite people for a treasure hunt. Guests were split into teams, given a chauffeur-driven car filled with champagne and dispatched on a mission: to find fantastical objects that corresponded to such enigmatic clues as âenchantingâ, âvoluptuousâ or âdangerâ. The team returning with the best booty would win a £26,200 diamond Trouble pendant (pictured) and other jewels worth £100,000. Naturally, the competition among the gem-loving crowd, which included Alexandra Schulman, the editor of Vogue, Natalie Massenet, the Net-a-Porter founder, the nightclub entrepreneur Amy Sacco and the heiress and fashion icon Daphne Guinness, was intense. One team found a live python to represent âdangerâ, another a tarantula in a cage. Vanity Fairâs Elizabeth Saltzman was the most resourceful. Where she located a stuffed black cat, to represent âcuriosityâ, is anyoneâs guess. She triumphed in the âenchantingâ category, too, bringing along Mica Paris to sing a song for the judges. No wonder Saltzmanâs team went home with the prize. </p> <p> If this party had happened in 2006, when City bonuses peaked at £8.8 billion (this year itâs down to £3.55 billion), such decadence would have gone unremarked. Set against the backdrop of global economic meltdown, it seems shocking. Yet, all over the world, it is pleasure as usual for the wealthy. From Roman Abramovich splashing out £200m on a 550ft super-yacht, the Eclipse, which will be accessorised with antimissile radar and water cannon, via the private jets that now come with personal make-up artists for passengers, to Purple Dragon, a just-launched exclusive Battersea membersâ club for children, with fees of £3,000 per annum (Mandarin lessons and baby yoga are included), no trophy is too extravagant nor service too extreme. The shopping hasnât stopped, either: in September, Harrods sold out of £7,000 Balmain dresses and £5,000 platinum-lined boxes of Patchi chocolates. Even in the City, itâs not all doom and gloom. One firm has just launched a £28m fund to invest in art, which, as Damien Hirstâs £111m sale proved, looks as safe as houses. </p>
Usually, the rich are always right; and the poor, always wrong. The poor people are scared, and have given up. The rich are investing, they see an economic recovery. See the difference? Then they ask why the rich get richer, and the poor poorer.