Monday, March 19, 2007

Charity Dinner = Gilded Age?

Via Yahoo News (and Drudge):

The last time Drudge used the term “Gilded Age” in one of his headlines it was an expensive pizza he was slamming. Now, he is slamming a meal for charity. For anyone not sure of the reference, Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott (2003) defines "Gilded Age" as

"The years between the Civil War and World War I when institutions undertook
financial manipulations that went virtually unchecked by government. This era
produced many infamous activities in the security markets."
Hmmm, with Sarbanes-Oxley and all of the other laws that regulate trading that really doesn't fit. Could it be Drudge is just using the term to refer to the fact people are getting wealthy? Could it be he is simply uncomfortable with success?

I, for one, am not at all uncomfortable with people who have money going to a charity dinner. This is one:
"All profits from the $25,000 dinner are going to two charities — Medecins Sans
Frontieres, which will be sent a check for $15,000, and the Chaipattana
Foundation, a rural development program set up by the king of Thailand, which
will receive $46,000, Ohri said."

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