BBC: The super rich

Today we've taking a look into the lives of the super rich- and we're going to look at one of their favourite pastimes. 

The super rich are people wiht over $30 million US dollars of assets. 

Assets are things we can own and sell- like property, boats and private planes. 

Expensive toys. Frist things first, let's do our question, Catherine. In which country is the percentae of super rich expected to grow fastest over the next 10 years?

a) China    b) Brazil      or  c) Vietnam?

I'm going to go for Vietnam. I think, that's an up and coming country and I think there is going to be a lot of growth in wealth in the future. 

OK, we'll find out if you are right or wrong later. The number of super rich are expected to increase by 43% over the next decade.

Now, this doesn't mean income is rising at teh same speed for everyone. You might remember a resport last year which said the world's richest 62 individuals  owned as much as the poorest 50% of people in the whole world. 

So, my question is- what on earth do people with so much money spend it on?

One academic in the UK has been researching just that. And her answer is... Neil?

Yachts! A yacht- a luxury boat used for pleasure. The ultimate status symbol- that is, an item which allows you to show off your wealth and position in society. 

Let's listen to Emma Spence from Cardiff University in the UK. What's so unusual about yachts?

If you have an exclusive wine collection or art collection or even teh purchase of a business jet - these are investable assets- something that you can retain value on or accrue value on. A business jet, a private jet, can cut costs- and make business more convenient by running faster, more confortabl than commerial airlines. So these purchases, they make good, sound business sense. Whereas a superyacht is essentially a black hole. 

Before we get to the yacht, Emma talked about certain assets like planes and wine that made business sense. 

Now, to make sense- is a phrase you'll be familiar with. So, if we say something makes business sense, it means 'it's good for business'. But yachts are different. 

Yachts, and especially what she calls superyachts, actually lose money. So much so, she calls a superyacht a black hole of wealth. 

A black hole, in scientific terms, is a place where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape- not even light. So, in business terms, a black hole eats all your money!

It's alos used conversationally to mean ' a place where things go missing'.

These superyachts are big. The world's longest is 180m in length. And they requie a professional crew. Which is how Emma began her study- she used to work on the yachts. 

She's now spent six years studying the world of superyachts and the super rich. 

So, what else did she learn

She says that in the world of the super rich- the size of your yacht shows your place in the pecking order. 

The pecking order means 'the social system from most powerful to least powerful'.

If you're higher up in the yachting pecking order, you get the best place in the harbour. Which is very important to yacht owners, apparently. 

Apparently, so it's all about seeing and being seen. You could actually say that yachts are the ultimate form of conspicuous constumption. Now that's another great term- conspicuous means 'visible or noticeable' and consumption means 'spending'. So the phrase conspicuous consumption refers to the kind of buying you do so that other people notice your money.