The Velvet Rope Economy
How Inequality Became Big Business
(Sprache: Englisch)
From New York Times business reporter Nelson D. Schwartz comes a bold and urgent investigation of division between the wealthy and the middle class n every arena of American life.
In nearly every realm of daily life--from health care to education,...
In nearly every realm of daily life--from health care to education,...
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From New York Times business reporter Nelson D. Schwartz comes a bold and urgent investigation of division between the wealthy and the middle class n every arena of American life.In nearly every realm of daily life--from health care to education, highways to home security--there is an invisible velvet rope that divides how Americans live. On one side of the rope, for a price, red tape is cut, lines are jumped, appointments are secured, and doors are opened. On the other side, middle- and working-class Americans fight to find an empty seat on the plane, a place in line with their kids at the amusement park, a college acceptance, or a hospital bed.
We are all aware of the gap between the rich and everyone else, but when we weren't looking, business innovators stepped in to exploit it, shifting services away from the masses and finding new ways to profit by serving the privileged. And as decision-makers and corporate leaders increasingly live on the friction-free side of the velvet rope, they are less inclined to change--or even notice--the obstacles everyone else must contend with. Schwartz's "must read" book takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of this new reality and shows the toll the velvet rope divide takes on society.
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IntroductionUnder the baking hot sun of an Orlando morning in August, the line at SeaWorld snakes its way past the turnstiles and into the distance toward the vast parking lots. Sweat pours down the faces and backs of the dads, while the moms vainly try to calm screaming toddlers and entertain their fidgety older siblings. Gum sticks to the kids sneakers as parents shell out money for one more bottle of water and the loudspeakers announce yet another delay for the Dolphins Up-Close Tour. When visitors finally arrive at the front of the line, groups are quickly hustled past the dolphin pools, only enabling the weary tourists to briefly touch the captive creatures.
Two miles away, the cast of characters is the same but the atmosphere is completely different. Here, at an oasis called Discovery Cove, parents lounge on daybeds and kids play in hammocks amid lush landscaping. Lines are nowhere to be seen, and there are even private cabanas complete with towel service and fridges stocked with snacks and beverages by an artificial beach. When they are ready, families depart for a personalized Dolphin Swim Experience, with an individual trainer as their guide.
At Discovery Cove, parents and children wade into the dolphin pool, where the boldest visitors can take hold of a dolphin s dorsal fin and go for a gentle ride. Teenagers can break off from the group as part of the Trainer for a Day package, complete with feedings with dolphins, a behind-the-scenes tour, and the opportunity to shadow employees. Other options include a chance to wade beside otters, hand-feed parrots and toucans, or go snorkeling with tropical fish and rays. Both parks are owned by SeaWorld, so Discovery Cove s guests can always hop over to the traditional park for old favorites like the dolphin show. And, for an extra fee, they can skip SeaWorld s lines and reserve the best seats in the house to see the marine mammals.
While thousands of visitors a day throng SeaWorld, daily
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attendance at Discovery Cove is capped at 1,300. Why? To create an exclusive experience that an affluent family of four is willing to pay up to $1,240 for, more than three times what a visit to SeaWorld would cost. And for SeaWorld, a publicly traded company that has been battered by criticism from animal rights activists, Discovery Cove is a cash cow. So while long waits are a feature of the traditional park, at Discovery Cove there are expanded offerings aimed at a tiny slice of visitors. In 2017, the upscale park began offering its most adventurous guests the chance to swim with sharks for an extra $109 per person, or with stingrays for $59. With no lines throughout the park, you can plan your adventure at your own pace, Discovery Cove s website promises.
This pattern a Versailles-like world of pampering for a privileged few on one side of the velvet rope, a mad scramble for basic service for everyone else is being repeated in one sphere of American society after another. At Yankee Stadium, holders of elite Legends tickets enter through a separate door, enjoy a private dining room with gourmet food in addition to the usual franks and popcorn, and are ushered to seats that sell for $1,000 or more, located along the first- and third-base lines. Occupants of the Legends Suite never come into contact with other people attending the game if they don t want to, whether they are far away in the bleachers or sitting in slightly less expensive mid-tier boxes a few yards back. Nor can the other fans sitting further away walk down to the field for autographs or a sight of their favorite player at bat like in the old days. The new Yankee Stadium that opened in 2009 was designed with a moat that prevents anyone except Legends seat holders from getting close to the field near home plate. What was once a quintessentially communal, American experience going to a baseball game&mda
This pattern a Versailles-like world of pampering for a privileged few on one side of the velvet rope, a mad scramble for basic service for everyone else is being repeated in one sphere of American society after another. At Yankee Stadium, holders of elite Legends tickets enter through a separate door, enjoy a private dining room with gourmet food in addition to the usual franks and popcorn, and are ushered to seats that sell for $1,000 or more, located along the first- and third-base lines. Occupants of the Legends Suite never come into contact with other people attending the game if they don t want to, whether they are far away in the bleachers or sitting in slightly less expensive mid-tier boxes a few yards back. Nor can the other fans sitting further away walk down to the field for autographs or a sight of their favorite player at bat like in the old days. The new Yankee Stadium that opened in 2009 was designed with a moat that prevents anyone except Legends seat holders from getting close to the field near home plate. What was once a quintessentially communal, American experience going to a baseball game&mda
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Autoren-Porträt von Nelson D. Schwartz
NELSON SCHWARTZ has worked as a business reporter at The New York Times since 2007 and currently covers economics.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Nelson D. Schwartz
- 2021, 352 Seiten, Maße: 13,2 x 20,3 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: ANCHOR
- ISBN-10: 0525435654
- ISBN-13: 9780525435655
- Erscheinungsdatum: 18.02.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
If you ve wondered how today s rich live why they speed past us at ball games and amusement parks, how a select few never have to wait to see top doctors you need to read The Velvet Rope Economy. You ll never look at boarding a plane or privilege and polarization the same way. Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit
Schwartz s tour of the modern economy is a study of not just how the market carves consumers into separate tribal groups, but of how it can create countries within countries whose borders however velvet are incontrovertibly real.
Kanishk Tharoor, The New Republic
Everyone has heard that America is suffering through a second Gilded Age of economic extremes and new levels of privilege and inequality. But very few people are aware of the detailed architecture that builds inequality into daily life. That is what makes Nelson Schwartz s account of the hidden history of privilege so revealing and fascinating and so important."
James Fallows, winner of the National Book Award and author of Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America
Timely and essential . . . Through careful reporting and entertaining storytelling, Schwartz unpacks the degree to which wealth insulates the privileged, as well as the dangers of our free-falling transformation into a caste-based society.
Esquire
A masterpiece of beautifully written, carefully reported social commentary. Schwartz is able to take everyday things we already know like the fact that the rich get to live a life entirely distinct from the rest of us and shows, through colorful tales and great storytelling, that this is no curiosity. It is an indictment, a warning, a prediction, and a nuanced vision of our society. This book will become essential reading to understand this moment. But don t let the grandness of his work scare you: it s a fun, surprising read filled with unexpected
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peeks into the perquisites of superwealth.
Adam Davidson, co-founder of Planet Money and author of The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century
"Explains how everything Americans purchase travel, leisure, education, and health care suddenly got really good for the wealthy and a lot worse for the rest of us . . . This is a book that will likely make you very, very mad. It will also, however, provide some context on why you feel so mad, and perhaps give a sense of clarity about what it all means and how to fix it."
Vox.com
Sometimes it takes real insight to understand what is staring you in the face. How often have you gritted your teeth as someone strolled past you to the front of the line? Or watched the curtain close to block your view of the passengers in first class? Schwartz decided not just to document all the ways our business culture has learned to cater to the rich at the expense of the rest of us, but to explain why it matters. It's an eye-opening exploration of a trend with many consequences, none of them good.
Joe Nocera, Bloomberg opinion columnist and author of A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class
Schwartz vividly portrays the way inequality plays out in the thick of daily life. The visceral divides between us are brilliantly and painfully brought to life. From airplanes to physicians to theme park queues, he uncovers a disturbing truth about how much money matters in America.
Richard V. Reeves, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution and author of Dream Hoarders
Through vivid illustrations and systematic analysis, this brilliantly argued book demonstrates the corrosive impact of growing inequality on society. Almost everywhere one looks amusement parks, stadiums, planes, college admissions, and health care we are being segregated into castes. A must read.
Emmanuel Saez, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Nelson D. Schwartz s book uses vivid and detailed reporting to advance an important, novel, and ultimately scary argument about the ways that inequality is changing our economy. Anyone interested in the topic of inequality should read this book.
Jason Furman, former Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
Adam Davidson, co-founder of Planet Money and author of The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century
"Explains how everything Americans purchase travel, leisure, education, and health care suddenly got really good for the wealthy and a lot worse for the rest of us . . . This is a book that will likely make you very, very mad. It will also, however, provide some context on why you feel so mad, and perhaps give a sense of clarity about what it all means and how to fix it."
Vox.com
Sometimes it takes real insight to understand what is staring you in the face. How often have you gritted your teeth as someone strolled past you to the front of the line? Or watched the curtain close to block your view of the passengers in first class? Schwartz decided not just to document all the ways our business culture has learned to cater to the rich at the expense of the rest of us, but to explain why it matters. It's an eye-opening exploration of a trend with many consequences, none of them good.
Joe Nocera, Bloomberg opinion columnist and author of A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class
Schwartz vividly portrays the way inequality plays out in the thick of daily life. The visceral divides between us are brilliantly and painfully brought to life. From airplanes to physicians to theme park queues, he uncovers a disturbing truth about how much money matters in America.
Richard V. Reeves, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution and author of Dream Hoarders
Through vivid illustrations and systematic analysis, this brilliantly argued book demonstrates the corrosive impact of growing inequality on society. Almost everywhere one looks amusement parks, stadiums, planes, college admissions, and health care we are being segregated into castes. A must read.
Emmanuel Saez, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Nelson D. Schwartz s book uses vivid and detailed reporting to advance an important, novel, and ultimately scary argument about the ways that inequality is changing our economy. Anyone interested in the topic of inequality should read this book.
Jason Furman, former Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
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