China Buys More Rolls-Royces than the U.S.
When it comes to mapping the world’s changing plutocracy, the Rolls-Royce Index is among the more useful tools.
Simply put, it measures which country is buying the most Rolls-Royces. The index not only gives us a sense of the country’s with the most excess wealth to burn (a base model Rolls will set you back at least $245,000), but also the citizens who are most anxious to display it. For ages, America has topped the list.
But in 2011, China beat out the U.S. to top the index for the first time.
According to a report in the L.A. Times, the country known just a decade ago as the bicycle capital of the world now leads in Rolls Royce buying. To honor their new best customers, Rolls is unveiling “Year of the Dragon” models “with hand-embroidered versions of mythical animals on leather headrests.” The sticker price: $1.6 million.
China is fast becoming the richest nation in the world. This is just another example of how much wind is being sucked out of the sails of the US economy. No middle class = no consumers = recession. If things don’t change soon, we may just dig ourselves into too deep a hole to escape this economic collapse.