NEW SEMESTER -- WELCOME

My cover story this week involves luxury apartments in Shanghai. The point of the story is that these apartments may be overpriced. Speculation (buying something expensive in the hope that it will be even more valuable later) may be driving the housing market into a bubble, much like the American housing bubble that started an economic meltdown in 2008. If you don't know the meanings of those words in bold type, you should come to class regularly (where you will certainly find them mentioned again and again).

To supplement the article, I looked up some of the references. You may find it interesting to click on these links and see what kind of "luxury items" are on offer in Shanghai. I was mostly disgusted by the lack of real comfort and delight. My tastes run in a different direction, I guess. (The exception being Salvador Dali, my favorite artist of all time.)

Swarovski crystals (Taiwan site):
http://asia.swarovski.com/taiwan

Tomson Riviera Shanghai (Chinese language site)
http://www.tomson-riviera.com/main.html

Versace (fashion company): http://www.versace.com/
... and for the Versace easy chair:
http://www.luxury-insider.com/Current_Affairs/post/2008/09/06/Versace-Home-Furniture-Collection.aspx

Richgate Shanghai http://www.joannarealestate.com.cn/shanghai/propertyshow.asp?pid=264

Park Avenue Shanghai (This is “One Park Avenue”, and there is now “8 Park Avenue”)
http://www.shrelocation.com/apartments/One_Park_Avenue.htm

Palais de Fortune Shanghai
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/french-luxury-tells-a-tale-of-chinas-haves-and-havenots-1883676.html?action=Popup

Salvador Dali (surrealist painter)
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/d/dali/cannibal.jpg
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/d/dali/persistence.jpg
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/d/dali/narciss.jpg
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/d/dali/weaning_furniture.jpg
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/d/dali/eluard.jpg
http://www.theartistsalvadordali.com/galatea.jpg

Armani (fashion company)
http://armanicollezioni.neimanmarcus.com/

Fendi (another fashion company – not disgusting?) http://www.fendi.it/#/en/foreverfendi/photogallery

Ennis House, Los Angeles (Frank Lloyd Wright) FOR SALE http://www.ennishouse.org/htmls/photo_page.htm
Other Frank Lloyd Wright homes for sale (in 2009)
http://designcrave.com/2009-05-07/frank-lloyd-wright-homes-for-sale-the-10-best

22-room residence in New Canaan, Connecticut ($24 million)
http://www.newcanaanrealestate-ct.com/homesforsale-detail/Dans_New-Canaan_CT_06840_ctmls-98401644-12775

Gaggenau appliances (Germany)
http://www.gaggenau.com/US_en/products.do
http://www.gaggenau-projects.com/index.php?lang=en

Jacuzzi (Italy) http://www.jacuzzi.eu/eu/it-IT

“This lock can read the palm of your hand.”
http://www.beyondifsolutions.com/html/handkeyll.html

All in all, it seems to me that you don't get a lot more for $45 million in Shanghai than you might for half a million in a nice part of America. But if you have to be doing some kind of business in Shanghai, I guess Thomson Riviera is the address to own. Makes me wonder what the point is, of working so hard -- in Shanghai, especially -- if you just end up living in a concrete box with a view of a polluted and neurotic city. But I told you, my tastes run in a different direction.