Here's a fun piece from Bloomberg columnist Mark Gilbert which takes its cue from Jeremy Grantham's recent remarks about the world's "first truly global bubble".
In, "Champagne Cheaper Than Vinegar = Bubble", Gilbert lists his seven signs that the world has gone bubblicious and completely off its rocker. The world of contemporary art provides us with one prime example:
Skullduggery?
Take a life-sized platinum skull that looks eerily like Hedge-Fund Guy. Stud it with 8,601 diamonds weighing 1,106.18 carats. Give it a snappy title such as ``For the Love of God'' and, as long as your name is Damien Hirst, you have a recipe for turning $20 million of materials into a $100 million windfall.
``You have to get the price right, or it will come back into the market,'' Hirst told Bloomberg News reporter Linda Sandler. ``A lot of people buy things and flip them.''
You know there's a bubble when artists are trying to set their prices so high that there won't be a secondary market for their work.
Enjoy the article! And for more on the chutzpah of Hirst and other signs of our frothy times, search the blog.
In, "Champagne Cheaper Than Vinegar = Bubble", Gilbert lists his seven signs that the world has gone bubblicious and completely off its rocker. The world of contemporary art provides us with one prime example:
Skullduggery?
Take a life-sized platinum skull that looks eerily like Hedge-Fund Guy. Stud it with 8,601 diamonds weighing 1,106.18 carats. Give it a snappy title such as ``For the Love of God'' and, as long as your name is Damien Hirst, you have a recipe for turning $20 million of materials into a $100 million windfall.
``You have to get the price right, or it will come back into the market,'' Hirst told Bloomberg News reporter Linda Sandler. ``A lot of people buy things and flip them.''
You know there's a bubble when artists are trying to set their prices so high that there won't be a secondary market for their work.
Enjoy the article! And for more on the chutzpah of Hirst and other signs of our frothy times, search the blog.