Downward Mobility

Russia's Millionaires Fair

Not as happy as last year’s.

The Independent has a message from "the Russian version of Paris Hilton": "Everyone else has a crisis, but we have a millionaire's fair." Russia did indeed have a millionaire's fair this weekend, but attendees seemed rather tight with their wallets. "This year, people are just coming by to say hello, out of politeness," said the representative of a private jet company, which sold an average of 20 planes for $150 to $250 million over the past few years, but has sold none so far this year. The sour mood came despite a government ban at one point on using the word "crisis" on state-run television. ("There is no crisis. What crisis?" said one attendee.) Russia's oligarchy has lost an estimated $230 billion since the credit crisis began, and analysts estimate that it is about six to nine months behind the west in feeling the effects of the financial crisis.