Inside the bubble, though, not all is rosy. Wine lists where the average price of a bottle of wine is over $100, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour where tickets averaged over $1,000, a plethora of cars (and trucks!) now costing north of $100,000 and, surprise of surprises, a wristwatch that costs more than a Ferrari!
So, how did we get here? And why?
First of all – yes one can still buy a good bottle of wine for $20 and even in a restaurant one can find the hidden gem for $50. And yes, One can still buy a decent , dependable car ( i.e. a Toyota) for under $20k. And a watch? Well, yeah, for a $100 or under one can get a sturdy, reliable, even trendy watch. So why the disparity between the two polar opposites?
I think it has to do, in my opinion, with the meaninglessness of the value of currency in today’s world. A quarter of a million dollars today is like $13,500 one hundred years ago.
And a million dollars today is not rich or wealthy, or is it? In 95% of the world, it is more than enough to live a good life. But after that car and that watch and a few concert tickets and a couple of rounds of Romanee-Conti, the well will run dry. I am not the only person that thinks this is out of kilter, am I?
I’m thinking and writing this because I’m seeing the premiumization of Italian wine and wondering if there is even a ceiling anymore. A bottle of “de-classified Brunello” going for over $600 on the shelf of a wine shop feels strange. Even stranger is the ICE agents down the street scouring the local construction site.
A friend and I were talking the other day about older TV shows and he mentioned The Twilight Zone. My reply to him was something to the effect that in those days, it seemed like we were living in The Twilight Zone, not just watching it on TV. And now, it seems, we’re in reruns. It is summer, after all.
Yeah, I cannot wrap my head around the artificially inflated Italian wine prices of late. Especially as the older folks are drinking less, some already have wine at home in coolers (maybe) and the savers might also have discretionary cash to afford wine regularly, if they are still drinking regularly. And finally, the upcoming generations, trying to get into housing, afford a car (at an average cost of $40K) saving for baby and/or children’s education. Along with paying the bills? Who’s gonna walk in my little Italian store and plunk down $600 for a bottle of Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera Toscana Rosso? The billionaires across the freeway over in the wealthiest part of town?
That’s going to sustain the Italian wine industry? That sounds more like the boat has a big leak in it, from something we just hit, there aren’t enough lifeboats, and hey - it’s everyman to themselves!
Would I like to have a watch that costs more than a Ferrari? Well, it would be easier to park, and the insurance for sure would be a lot less, along with the maintenance. But no, not my cup of Timorasso.
What really puzzles me is the cost of concert tickets. I look who is going to these $1,000 per ticket venues and wonder just how maxed out their credit cards are. The USA total credit card debt is $1,200,000,000,000 (that’s $1.2 trillion, btw). For anyone who wants to know, that’s over $3,500 of debt, per every person in America. Wow, I feel like opening a bottle of Dom Perignon, just because someone needs to drink the damn thing before the boat sinks (just kidding).
Look, none of this is sustainable. But we have been on this journey for only 13 billion years. What do we know?
I tell you what I think. It’s gonna get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better.
It’s enough to get one to drink – like a nice bottle of Barolo, say from 2010 or 2008? Or maybe some bubbles?
