{"id":408,"date":"2013-03-19T10:43:20","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T09:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/?p=408"},"modified":"2013-10-24T14:47:31","modified_gmt":"2013-10-24T12:47:31","slug":"fiche-de-lecture-richistan-a-journey-through-the-american-wealth-boom-and-the-lives-of-the-new-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/fiche-de-lecture-richistan-a-journey-through-the-american-wealth-boom-and-the-lives-of-the-new-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"Richistan. A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Frank,\u00a02007, 300 p.<\/p>\n<p><b>L\u2019auteur<br \/>\n<\/b>Robert Frank a \u00e9t\u00e9 reporter pour le &lsquo;Wall Street Journal&rsquo; pendant douze ans, o\u00f9 il a notamment tenu le blog \u2018The Wealth Report\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><b>Synth\u00e8se<br \/>\n<\/b>Le livre de Robert Frank est une sorte de guide de voyage au sein d\u2019un \u2018pays parall\u00e8le\u2019, peu connu, le Richistan\u00a0: au d\u00e9part, c\u2019\u00e9tait un village, aujourd\u2019hui c\u2019est devenu une v\u00e9ritable nation.<br \/>\nLes donn\u00e9es sur la richesse vont dans son sens. Quand John Rockefeller est devenu le premier milliardaire am\u00e9ricain, ce fut un v\u00e9ritable choc. Sa fortune s\u2019\u00e9levait \u00e0 14\u00a0milliards de dollars (en tenant compte de l\u2019inflation), c\u2019est-\u00e0-dire moins que chacun des cinq enfants de Sam Walton aujourd\u2019hui. En 1985, il y en avait environ 13. En 2007, il y en avait plus de 1000. C\u2019est un chiffre du Federal Reserve Board qui a attir\u00e9 en 2003 l\u2019attention de l\u2019auteur\u00a0: en huit ans, le nombre de millionnaires am\u00e9ricains avait doubl\u00e9, et ne montrait aucun signe de ralentissement\u00a0: en 2003, il s\u2019en est cr\u00e9\u00e9 227\u00a0000\u00a0! Le boom des nouvelles technologies a entra\u00een\u00e9 la cr\u00e9ation de nouvelles fortunes\u00a0: investisseurs de Wall Street, \u2018corporate raiders\u2019, \u2018tech pioneers\u2019, CEOs, \u2018money managers\u2019\u2026 Mais de nombreux entrepreneurs, des \u2018masters of the banal\u2019, selon l\u2019auteur, sont aussi devenus richissimes en vendant des villages en c\u00e9ramique, de la mozzarella, des niches pour chien en forme d\u2019igloo.<br \/>\nLes riches sont des \u2018financial foreigners\u2019 au sein de leur propre pays\u00a0: ils disposent de leur propre syst\u00e8me de sant\u00e9, avec des \u2018concierge doctors\u2019, de leur propre r\u00e9seau de jets priv\u00e9s et de salons d\u2019accueil dans les a\u00e9roports. Robert Franck s\u2019est litt\u00e9ralement mis dans leur peau pour assister aux mondanit\u00e9s (\u2018Red Cross Ball\u2019 de Palm Beach), le meilleur moyen d\u2019acc\u00e9der \u00e0 ces intouchables d\u2019un nouveau genre. Il apprend \u00e0 parler leur jargon. La plupart des \u2018Richistanis\u2019, comme il les appelle, obtiennent leur nationalit\u00e9 \u00e0 la faveur d\u2019un \u2018liquidity event\u2019, quand un autre rach\u00e8te leur soci\u00e9t\u00e9, plut\u00f4t que gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 un h\u00e9ritage. Les gestionnaires de hedge fund hantent les bas-fonds de Manhattan en qu\u00eate d\u2019artistes branch\u00e9s, ou \u2018noncorrelated assets\u2019. \u2018Affluent\u2019 en richistani veut dire \u2018not really rich\u2019: le ticket d\u2019entr\u00e9e dans le monde des riches co\u00fbte au moins 10\u00a0millions de dollars.<br \/>\nAu Richistan, 1\u00a0million de dollars n\u2019est rien, \u00eatre millionnaire est tr\u00e8s commun\u00a0: apr\u00e8s tout, il y en 9\u00a0millions. L\u2019auteur distingue trois castes bien s\u00e9par\u00e9es\u00a0: le Lower Richistan, qui regroupe 7,5\u00a0millions de foyers (1 \u00e0 10\u00a0millions de dollars)\u00a0; le Middle Richistan, qui en regroupe 2\u00a0millions (10 \u00e0 100\u00a0millions de dollars)\u00a0; l\u2019Upper richistan, dont les quelques milliers de membres poss\u00e8dent plus de 100\u00a0millions.<br \/>\nRobert Frank trahit certains codes r\u00e9v\u00e9lateurs de la hi\u00e9rarchie en cours au Richistan. Mercedes et Rolex sont-ils des signes de richesse\u00a0? Pas du tout, au contraire\u00a0: les \u2018affluent\u2019 conduisent des Mercedes, les riches des Maybachs. Quant aux montres, l\u2019auteur r\u00e9v\u00e8le le prix de celles des plus riches, 600\u00a0000\u00a0dollars, mais pas la marque&#8230;<br \/>\nLes Richistanis, dont le mode de vie devient toujours plus complexe \u00e0 g\u00e9rer, d\u00e9pendent \u00e9troitement des \u2018household managers\u2019, des super-majordomes capables de manager plusieurs centaines de personnes, auxquels Robert Frank consacre l\u2019int\u00e9gralit\u00e9 de son premier chapitre. Ces majordomes, loin de ressembler au Nestor du Capitaine Haddock, sont plut\u00f4t consid\u00e9r\u00e9s par leurs employeurs comme des \u2018chief operating officer for My Life Inc.\u2019. Ils sont form\u00e9s par des universit\u00e9s sp\u00e9cialis\u00e9es \u00e0 devenir des experts en tableaux excel, en technologies domestiques et en agence de voyages, pay\u00e9s jusqu\u2019\u00e0 120\u00a0000\u00a0dollars par an en d\u00e9but de carri\u00e8re.<br \/>\nPoss\u00e9der un yacht susceptible d\u2019accueillir des centaines d\u2019invit\u00e9s n\u2019est pas une sin\u00e9cure. Et l\u2019\u00e9ducation des \u2018gosses de riches\u2019 g\u00e9n\u00e8re beaucoup de stress pour les familles soucieuses de l\u2019h\u00e9ritage financier mais aussi moral et intellectuel qu\u2019elles vont laisser \u00e0 leurs descendants. Un \u2018support group\u2019 a \u00e9t\u00e9 cr\u00e9\u00e9 pour venir en aide aux Richistanis qui ne parviennent pas \u00e0 \u2018faire face \u00e9motionnellement\u2019 \u00e0 leur nouveau mode de vie.<br \/>\nCar les Richistanis aussi sont tr\u00e8s anxieux de leur statut. Quand on leur demande avec quelle somme d\u2019argent ils se sentent en s\u00e9curit\u00e9, tous r\u00e9pondent le double de ce qu\u2019ils poss\u00e8dent\u00a0! Et comme beaucoup d\u2019entre eux sont issus des classes moyennes, ils d\u00e9testent \u00eatre trait\u00e9s de riches. Ils ne poss\u00e8dent pas de chauffeurs, par exemple, et conduisent eux-m\u00eames leurs Rolls-Royce \u2013 tout en poss\u00e9dant des yachts de 150\u00a0m, preuve d\u2019une l\u00e9g\u00e8re tendance \u00e0 la bipolarit\u00e9. Mais dans l\u2019ensemble, la description des Richistanis n\u2019est pas tr\u00e8s r\u00e9jouissante. Les habitants du Richistan n\u2019ont pas l\u2019air heureux, et m\u00eame plut\u00f4t mis\u00e9rables.<br \/>\nSachant que moins de 10\u00a0% des Richistanis sont des \u2018Old Money\u2019, et seulement 3\u00a0% des c\u00e9l\u00e9brit\u00e9s, d\u2019o\u00f9 proviennent tous ces nouveaux riches\u00a0? Il y a les entrepreneurs, encens\u00e9s par les m\u00e9dias\u00a0: Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Ted Turner\u2026 Ils ont cr\u00e9\u00e9 leur propre entreprise et vendu leur part \u00e0 des investisseurs en bourse. Les cadres et employ\u00e9s qui poss\u00e8dent des parts dans une entreprise gagnent le jackpot quand celle entre en bourse, comme les \u2018Microsoft millionnaires\u2019, par exemple. Les \u2018Acquired\u2019 sont les cadres qui ont vendu leur entreprises contre du cash (108\u00a0000\u00a0acquisitions ont g\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9 11\u00a0trillion de dollars depuis 1985). Les \u2018Money Movers\u2019, gestionnaires de hedge funds, font circuler des tsunamis de cash \u00e0 travers le monde entier et prennent leur d\u00eeme au passage. Enfin, les \u2018Salaried Rich\u2019 constituent le top management des multinationales, dont le salaire est 170\u00a0fois sup\u00e9rieur \u00e0 celui des employ\u00e9s moyens.<\/p>\n<p><b>Citations et exemples<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>p.31\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0Since most of today\u2019s Richistanis grew up middle class, they\u2019re not used to having servants. They\u2019re used to doing things themselves, and they\u2019re uncomfortable with the stuffy formalities that often come with hiring house staff.\u00a0\u00bb Un exemple suit, celui de Bob, tycoon de l\u2019immobilier, qui s\u2019est r\u00e9solu \u00e0 embaucher du personnel pour g\u00e9rer son gigantesque ranch\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0It\u2019s not as glamorous as it sounds to have a house staff. You have all these people touching everything from you underwear to your mecidine.\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.40\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0For the first time ever, the United States in 2004 supassed Europe in the population of millionaires. In 2005, the United States cranked out 227,000\u00a0new financial millionaires. China, despite all the talk about its new wealth, added only 20,000\u00a0new financial millionaires, and its total millionaire population is one-hundredth of America\u2019s. India has only 83,000\u00a0millionaires \u2013 about the same as North Carolina.\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.49\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0To make it into the top 1\u00a0% of Americans, you need a net worth of $6\u00a0million. That\u2019s twice the level required in 1995. To get on Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, you have to be a billionaire. The entry price was only $418\u00a0million in 1995.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0For ages, the term \u2018millionaire\u2019 was synonymous with \u2018rich\u2019. Today, $1\u00a0million barely gets you a two-bedroom in Manhattan, let alone a place in the Hamptons. The wealth boom has created such a huge disconnect between Richistanis and the rest of the country that they now have dramatically different definitions of the term \u2018rich\u2019.\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.55\u00a0: l\u2019histoire d\u2019Ed Bazinet, un entrepreneur catholique du Minnesota fort d\u2019une fortune colossale de $100\u00a0millions, qu\u2019il a gagn\u00e9 en vendant des villages miniatures en c\u00e9ramique et tout un tas d\u2019autres objets du m\u00eame genre\u00a0! En 2012, il a fini aux urgences psychiatriques apr\u00e8s avoir d\u00e9pens\u00e9 $20\u00a0millions en babioles \u00e0 une exposition \u00e0 New York, dont $1,6\u00a0million en savons\u00a0! Il souffrait d\u2019un \u2018bipolar disorder\u2019\u2026<\/li>\n<li>p.65\u00a0: Tim Blixseth, millionnaire satisfait sur son yacht au large du Mexique\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0\u2018Where the hell am I? I\u2019ve been waking up in a different place every day this week, I feel like a vagabond.\u2019 \u2018Vagabond\u2019 is a relative term when you\u2019re traveling with him. On Sunday morning he woke up in his 3,000-sq-foot cabin at the Yellowstone Club, a private golf-and-ski club that Blixseth founded in the Montana Rockies. The next day he woke up at a luxury lodge on a 3,200-acre fishing ranch near Cody, Wyoming. Monday night, it was back home, \u2018home\u2019 also being a relative term. Blixseth and his wife, Edra, live on a 240-acre spread near Palm Springs, that makes most five-star resorts look puny by comparison. The estate has a 30,000-sq-foot mansion, 12 guest cottages\u2013each the size of a single family home\u2013a full-service spa, two swimming pools, an amphitheater and an underground ballroom.\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.83\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0While the new rich can make giant fortunes in record time, they can lose them just as quickly. Financial markets and fast-changing technologies have created historic opportunities for entrepreneurs and corporate chiefs to make millions and billions virtually overnight. Yet they have also created historic oppotunities to lose it all equally fast. For Richistanis, this is new Fear fo Falling. While the bulk of the country\u2019s top wealth used to be grounded in hard assets, like land, real estate, trucks, factories and buildings, much of today\u2019s wealth is tethered to stocks, options, derivatives and other free-floating assets. As a consequence, Richistanis are more vulnerable than ever to sudden wealth shocks.\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.104\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0The tensions between Old Money and New Money have been around long before [this new era]. In ancient Greece, the landed wealthy repeatedly feuded with New Money, who were traders making their fortunes from importing and exporting luxury goods like spices, perfumes and linens. Chester Starr, the Greek historian, wrote that the Greek nouveaux, at the same time they were trying to vanquish the Old Guard, were also desperate to be accepted in their social circles. Aristotle, who condemned all wealth as \u2018insolent and arrogant\u2019, had especially harsh words for the newly wealthy: \u2018There is a difference between the character of the newly rich and of those whose wealth is of long standing, because the former have the vices of wealth in a greater degree and more; for, so to say, they have not been educated to the use of wealth. Their unjust acts are not due to malice, but partly to insolence, partly to lack of self control, which tends to make them commit assault and battery and adultery.\u2019\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.107-108\u00a0: Avec ses deux yacht clubs, l\u2019\u00eele de Nantucket est un lieu d\u2019affrontement entre Old et New Money\u00a0: la vieille \u00e9lite dirigeante en d\u00e9clin, l\u2019establishment protestant, Ivy League schools, the Social Register, etc. vs les \u2018Instapreneurs\u2019, \u2018no identifiable \u2018ruling class\u2019 or single set of values among the newly wealthy. While Old Wealth prided itself on modesty, tradition, public service, charity and sophisticated leisure, Richistanis pride themselves on their middle-class ethic, self-made fortunes and big spending. E. Digby Baltzell, who coined the term WASP: \u2018the ruling elite became too insulated from the outside world to remain competitive in a fast-changing economy.\u2019<\/li>\n<li>p.121\u00a0: long chapitre \u2018Size really does matter\u2019, impossible \u00e0 r\u00e9sumer tant il y a de chiffres et d\u2019exemples, sur les habitudes extravagantes des riches, \u2018the high-end shopping spree is being driven partly by peer pressure\u2019. Yachts, immobilier, jets, voitures, art, horlogerie, exp\u00e9riences exclusives (rencontre exceptionnelle avec Nelson Mandela, visite du centre de contr\u00f4le de la NASA\u2026), exemple d\u2019un \u2018dot-commer\u2019 qui voulait visiter l\u2019\u00c9cosse en exclusivit\u00e9. Trois listes de d\u00e9penses annuelles de Richistanis, $80,000 en massages\u2026<\/li>\n<li>p.203\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0According to a 2005 study, less than half of today\u2019s Richistanis agreed with the statement that \u2018wealth has made me happier\u2019. Even more suprising was the discovery that 10\u00a0% of millionaires (and 16\u00a0% of women millionaires) felt that their wealth actually created <i style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">more<\/i> problems than it solved. The American wealth boom has not only created more rich people; it has also created more rich-people problems. While money has showered Richistanis with obvious benefits, like freedom, power and all those boats and planes, it has also burdened them with troubles they never imagined on their climb to the top.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0All that striving and worrying has made Richistanis an especially anxious elite. Yet rather than grappling privately with their problems, like the Old Money crowd, Richistanis have come up with a more novel soclution\u2013one that could exist only in an age of millions of millionaires. They\u2019ve formed their own wealth support groups.\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.209\u00a0: Un participant au support group\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0\u2018In creating wealth, it\u2019s not just greed that motivates you, it\u2019s fear. There really is a lot of interconnection between fear and greed. And if people stay worried, it\u2019s part of what motivates them. We\u2019re always worried.\u2019 \u2018You wonder how much is really enough,\u2019 says another member. \u2018How much do you think you need to have so you wouldn\u2019t worry? Ten years ago, I used to think $5\u00a0million was enough to stay above the water line. Now it\u2019s more. What\u2019s the number? Is it $10\u00a0million\u00a0? $50\u00a0million\u00a0?\u2019\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<li>p.243\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0The gap between the rich and everyone else has imposed costs. The record consumption by the rich has set a new standard for the rest of the country to try to follow and left the middle class working harder and taking in more debt to keep up.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0It has also made the rest of America less happy, since happiness is defined in large part by how well you\u2019re doing compared to those around you. With so many people getting so rich\u2013and parading their riches on TV and in public\u2013the nonrich feel increasingly envious, inadequate or a combination of the two. As a result, Americans are spending more of their income on unnecessary luxuries to prove their status, even as the country underfunds pressing problems like the public-school system, roads, bridges, health care or the environment. As incomes continue to grow at the top and stagnate elsewhere, we will see even more of our national income devoted to luxury goods, the main effect of which will be to raise the bar that counts as luxury.\u00a0\u00bb<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Frank,\u00a02007, 300 p. L\u2019auteur Robert Frank a \u00e9t\u00e9 reporter pour le &lsquo;Wall Street Journal&rsquo; pendant douze ans, o\u00f9 il a notamment tenu le blog \u2018The Wealth Report\u2019. Synth\u00e8se Le livre de Robert Frank est une sorte de guide de voyage au sein d\u2019un \u2018pays parall\u00e8le\u2019, peu connu, le Richistan\u00a0: au d\u00e9part, c\u2019\u00e9tait un village, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiches-de-lecture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bliss.pro\/fracture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}