Robert L Frank: Richistan

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You go into detail about the lower class’ envy of Richistanis, fueling hyper-consumerism. What aspects of lower-class living do Richistanis envy?

There’s definitely a desire by today’s rich to have a simple life. When they go on vacations today, when they talk about their families, it’s almost like they fantasize about not having money, they fantasize about being back to nature with a simple wooden shack and a kayak where their family can get away from it all.

You use the term “control freak philanthropy” for the way Richistanis give charity. Can you discuss what that means?

In the old days, you used to write a check to the Red Cross or United Way or a local charity, and you would let them spend the money as they wished, and you would get a plaque or a nice card or maybe a building named after you and that was enough. Today’s wealthy are very entrepreneurial. They’re very controlling, and what they want in their businesses and their lives are measurable results for their work. So rather than just writing a check, they’re starting their own foundations and picking their own causes and making sure that every dollar they spend goes effectively towards solving that social problem.

Do you see any new pockets of Richistan forming, either in the United States or abroad?

Certainly in the past three years, we’ve seen hedge fund wealth. They’re really the newest migrants to Richistan, the hedge funders. And they are making incredible amounts of wealth. There are several billionaires; people who are getting annual salaries of a billion dollars or more in the hedge fund world. We haven’t seen that in a long time.

And is that primarily in New York?

It’s New York and Greenwich, Conn. Greenwich is the world capital of hedge funds. The wealth being created in that community makes it one of the hot new neighborhoods of Richistan.

What would you like your readers to take away from this book?

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