July 2013

According to those who track such numbers, in 2012 there were 12 million millionaires in the world with combined assets of $46.2 trillion. That was 10% more than the previous year, but regardless of how much more it may be, the issue for these millionaires is how to avoid paying taxes. Now that there has been more pressures on Swiss banks to reveal their customers, making them less desirable tax havens, the push is to invest in art. That opens the question, where to store the art? As a result, Switzerland is now home to a number of rather unique duty-free warehouses. They offer the privacy and security that had for so long made Swiss banks sought after by those interested in shielding their assets. In addition Swiss laws facilitate the movement of art in and out of the country without questions, which means someone in China can buy a painting from a Master in London and have it shipped to a Geneva warehouse without any concerns about taxes or security. The practice is so gaining in popularity, space in existing warehouses is just about at capacity and more are being built. This all means that the millionaires’ goal is reached, their investments are safe and tax free and their private interests are met. But is that what art is meant to be about?

German Sociologist Harmut Rosa has recently published “Acceleration and Alienation” an essay about his idea that acceleration has become a key concept of our age. He makes a distinction between what he terms mechanical acceleration, or how long it takes us to do something and the pace of social change, the acceleration of daily life. It may take us less time to do things, he points out, but we are more and more pressed for time. One reason is because there is more to do and we are under pressure to experience it all. This pressure can lead to a feeling of depression or alienation. Another aspect of acceleration affects our political life, decisions now have to be made faster and faster, meaning according to Rosa, that there is less time for thinking and decisions can’t help but be made on an emotional basis. He compares acceleration to a Leviathan, a monster that cannot be tamed. That analogy, however, may only be valid in that we may not be able to stop acceleration from existing or even from growing, but on a personal level we can say, “the buck stops here.” We can take a deep breath, take stock, choose how we deal with the pace of our lives and redefine our priorities.

The interest rate of student loans was raised to 6.8% last July 1st. Soon after, the senate failed to agree to reverse the rate increase. Education has traditionally been seen as a means to upward mobility, yet the cost of an education keeps going up making it necessary for many to borrow often large sums. Perhaps it is to be expected that a report issued not long before the senate’s inaction, found that a key reason why first time home buyers are being kept out of the market is student loans. They aren’t able to afford both loan repayment and a mortgage. Then there’s the passing of the farm bill minus the food stamps provisions possibly threatening the future of a program which as David Brooks discovered when he wanted to write a column about it, helps a lot more people than he had originally realized. An observer can’t help wonder if when put together, all this would not contribute to a two tiers America. It makes the fact that the Congress was not able to find a way to act on these, and other issues relating to the needs of the people they are there to serve, more than irresponsible. It is insolent, an affront to the needs of those who elected them.