When the rich don't buy

All sorts of people are losing their jobs--not so much from the recession, although that's part of it--but from the hostile, unfriendly, investment-cooling policies of the Obama administration. Let's say, just for fun and fantasy, you are worth a few million (like the current President) or many millions (like our former Presidents Bush and Clinton). How eager in today's climate would you be to invest in the finer things of life--like art. Now if you're a speculator, this might just be a great time. But let's say you became wealthy through solid investments and/or the smarts of your handlers and political friends.

In the WSJ today there's a story about a classy art gallery defaulting on loans. And apparently there have been a number of NY galleries go under. The rich aren't buying and probably credit sources have dried up because the bailouts have gone to a much higher tier in the credit food chain (that's not in the article--just my opinion). What happens when a first class art gallery closes? Staff is left go, of course; rent isn't paid and that hurts the bank that holds that mortgage; real estate firms are hurt; neighborhood business is hurt; the staff and shoppers who would have patronized the area shops now go elsewhere to spend their money; the delis and restaurants in the area lay off their immigrant counter clerks and bussers; the graphic artists and printers that worked up the catalogs have to cut back; the webpage designer for the gallery's sales has lost an important customer; rent payments and mortgage payments fall behind sending the economic ripples far down the subway line through people that never bought a piece of art in their lives; less tax money comes to the city, district and state; city workers get laid off; more demand on unemployment payouts.

On the plus side there are very good buys for art speculators; warehouses and storage facilities are doing well as banks look for places to store the seized art; court dockets fill up keeping their clerks busy; there's a demand for bubble wrap and protective coverings as art goes into storage; fraud investigators have more work as owners try to hide sales; lawyers are rubbing their hands since it looks like the terrorist trials might move elsewhere; they all need to hire more support staff.

And in Washington DC and the rubber chicken campaign circuit, our President flogs his health care plan oblivious to the ripples he sends out every day that keep the economy struggling and businesses sinking to the bottom of the government quagmire.