he Burj Al Arab, the world’stallest and only seven-starhotel, is located in Dubai,the Las Vegas of the Persian Gulf.Built on an artificial island 919 feetfrom Jumeirah Beach to encourageits sense of exclusivity, privacy, andopulence, it is a seemingly gossa-mer structure that symbolizes bothArab urbanization and unmatchedluxury. And the interior is no lessimpressive, with each exquisitelydecorated room possessing its own42" plasma television; electronicallycontrolled windows, curtains, andair conditioning; Hermès beautyproducts; Jacuzzi tub; and a “menu”of pillows and quilts to match yourtastes. Rooms start at around $2,000per night, so long as you book wellin advance.Naturally, guest amenities matchthe décor, with helicopter transferto the airport at your disposal andRolls-Royce limousine service.Should you feel like a snack, youcan always saunter down to Al Ma-hara restaurant, where, after a three-minute simulated submarine ride,you’ll be treated to the finest sea-food while seated next to a seawateraquarium. Dinner for four usuallyruns $1,500, but don’t fret—they cancharge it to your room.Who can afford that type of ser-vice? A surprisingly large numberof individuals. There exist morewealthy people than ever before, andmore wealth. The number of (dollar)millionaires jumped 9.4% in 2005 toreach 9.5 million in 2006, accordingto the World Wealth Report com-piled yearly by Merrill Lynch andthe Capgemini Group consultingfirm. But the real growth, both mon-etarily and numerically, has been inthe number of individuals who can be considered superwealthy.

I a wld satuated b “luu gds,” what is the futue f luu?A sultig futuist eles ew teds i livig ve well.

The

ExpErIEncE Economy:

The High Life f Tw

By Eric Garland

The Al Mahara restaurant at the Burj Al Arab, the world’s only seven-star hotel.

B UR J A L A R A B / J UME I R A H

BURJ AL ARAB / JUMEIRAH

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January-February 2008

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listen to at once? How many pairs of fancy shoes can one own as a memberof the middle class?

The WealThy have aReal PRoblem

Those with the money to stay at theBurj Al Arab have a problem, thoughnot one most people would recognizeor sympathize with—namely, justwhat do you do with all that money?If any guy with an Internet connec-tion and a Visa card can surroundhimself with Corinthian leather,Waterford Crystal, and beluga caviar,what can you do to demonstrate yourwealth and position?Future trends seem to indicatethat this “problem” will continue todevelop. High-quality goods areproliferating at an unprecedentedpace. Consider that Costco is actu-ally America’s number-one distribu-tor of Dom Perignon champagne.What’s more, the quality of goods isincreasing all over the world, thanksto the economic development of newindustrial powerhouses such asKorea and China. As Western manu-facturers have outsourced facilitiesto the East, not surprisingly, peoplein Asia have been learning theircrafts, making either luxury hand- bags or plasma screen televisions.There are more suppliers of well-made goods than ever before, ensur-ing that tomorrow’s consumers arelikely to be equally spoiled.More people will also be able toers in hundreds of shopping centers

across the United States are lining

up for goods that used to be the ex-clusive domain of the very wealthy.Middle-class folks are splurging onLouis Vuitton bags. Kids at the mallsport $100 jeans from Armani Ex-change, a brand that used to be moreassociated with Milan and Paris thanthe American suburbs. Godiva choc-olates, once an exclusive chocolatierin Belgium, now sells $4 mochas inmalls around the world. The Ameri-can automaker Ford bought Jaguar.While the brand is historically seenas a symbol of British exclusivity,you now can own one for not muchmore than a well-appointed Honda.The very nature of luxury is chang-ing. Somewhere between iPods andplasma TVs, between opulent hand- bags and the proliferation of Euro-pean fashions for everyone, it seemsthat the exclusive has become com-monplace. From the ancient daysof artisans until perhaps the 1990s,there were two classes of goods—functional items for the masses andhandcrafted works of art for thewealthy. Today, the finest brands inthe world can be yours at reasonableprices through e-commerce: Water-ford Crystal is on sale at www.bestcrystal.com. You can save up to70% on authentic Persian rugs atwww.rugsdirect.com. As more andmore consumers buy these luxury baubles, we are faced with signifi-cant questions for society and theeconomy. How many iPods can youA brief look at

Forbes

magazine’s“billionaire list” over the past coupleof decades shows that super wealth

is on the upswing. In 1982,

Forbes

counted 13 billionaires inhabiting the

globe. The number doubled by 1986and quadrupled by 1987. How many

billionaires were jet-setting aroundthe planet in 2006? An incredible 793 bejeweled individuals who, together,control $2.6 trillion in assets, about

one-fifth of total U.S. GDP.

Meanwhile, thousands of milesaway from the Burj Al Arab, consum-

The new Tesla Roadster is a 100% electricautomobile that gets the equivalent of 135miles per gallon. It can travel 250 miles percharge and accelerates from zero to 60mph in about four seconds.

TESLA MOTORSBURJ AL ARAB / JUMEIRAH

The Al Mahara restaurant at the Burj Al Arab, where guests are treated to seafood next toan enormous seawater aquarium.

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January-February 2008

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are about 100,000 millionaires in In-dia and 340,000 in China, accordingto Robert Frank of the

Robb Report.

While the United States still leads

the world in sheer number of mil-lionaires, the breakneck 20% growthin the Chinese economy indicatesthat there will likely be many moreprivate jets flying out of Shanghaiairport in the future.Nanotechnology and molecularmanufacturing may be years away, but they already hint at precipitousdrops in price for finely made goods.Laboratory-grown diamonds offered by companies such as Florida’s Gem-esis and Boston’s Apollo Diamondare molecularly identical to naturaldiamonds and much cheaper. Addthe bottom-up manufacturing of nanotechnology, making precisionmaterials virtually free, and the verynotion of bling will be altered for-ever.At least theoretically, finely manu-factured goods of all sorts will con-tinue to drop in price, perhaps tozero one day. If exclusive goods areno longer exclusive, then what is thefuture of luxury?I argue that the future of wealthwill be more about human experi-ences and exquisite moments. Realwealth will be to increase our stan-dard of living while reducing our en-vironmental footprint.So where can you go from the BurjAl Arab? What’s the best experiencemoney can buy?

luxuRy exPeRience:Rock camP

Before embarking on lucrative-but-conventional careers such as salesmanagers, accountants or whatever,many people started down the se-ductive path of playing in a rock’n’ roll band. Maybe you ended upa millionaire by selling drywall foroffice buildings, but you feel likeyou missed your calling of world-wide rock stardom. Not a problem—for the low price of $9,500, you cansimulate your life as a rock star withRock and Roll Fantasy Camp (www.rockandrollfantasycamp.com).In Hollywood, London, or NewYork, three world capitals of rock ’n’roll, “campers” fly out to work one-on-one with some of the world’s big-once-agrarian communist China de-cided it is glorious to become rich, but it is also creating unprecedentedwealth in cities such as Shanghaiand Guangzhou—and new consum-ers for the luxury lifestyle. Thereafford “consumer luxury.” The rap-idly expanding economies of Asiaalone will considerably increasethe market for such goods, as Indiaand China grow into trillion-dollareconomic behemoths. Not only has

Scenario:

backsTage

Tom has been preparing for this day since he was 17 years old.But backstage, as he goes through the final motions of tuning hisFender Stratocaster guitar, his hands are shaking so badly he can barely hold the strings.“Hey Tom? You ready to tear this place up?” asks Roger Daltreyfrom The Who, Tom’s camp counselor for the last ten days.“I don’t think I can do it, Roger. I mean, there are actual peopleout there!”Roger just smiles likehe’s heard all this before.No doubt he has. “Whatdid I tell you, Tom?You’re a star on thisthing.”“I’m a hedge fundmanager.”“Not today,” saysRoger. “Today, you’relead guitar in my band.You’re going to hit thatopening chord, and itwill all come flooding back to you. You’re go-ing to get these peopleon their feet and thenyou’re going to knock’em down. When it’sover, you’re going to signautographs. We’ll hangout with the roadies backstage, listen to youralbum, and you’ll knowthat you really did it.”In an encouraging sort of way, Roger shoves Tom toward thestage. The newly minted “rock star” stumbles at first. The lights arefar brighter—and the House of Blues crowd is far larger—than Tomanticipated. But the audience is on its feet, cheering for him. Guitarpick in hand, he launches into the first chord of “My Generation.”The sound of a hundred cheering fans hits the stage like a ten-footwave as he moves effortlessly into the second chord.

Roger was right! It really does come back!

His blood pumping asfuriously as the 40-Watt amplifier behind him, his knees shaking,Tom realizes that he really does know this song, not because he’sspent a little more than a week rehearsing it with Roger Daltrey, but because he’s been playing it on air guitar—preparing for thismoment—his whole life. —

PMT

The Who singer Roger Daltrey (right)with actor Joaquin Phoenix at Rock andRoll Fantasy Camp.

ROCK AND ROLL FANTASY CAMP

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January-February 2008

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