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Update your plutocracy vocabulary. Plutocracy, or government by the wealthy, was a common word back in the Gilded Age of a century ago. Many people have commented that we are entering a new Gilded Age brought about by two major tax reduction proposals by the current administration, both of which severely favor the interests of the wealthy above everyone else and above even the national interest.

During the old Gilded Age a number of words entered the American vocabulary, including plutolatry (the worship of wealth), plutology (the scientific study of wealth), and plutomania (the abnormal or excessive desire for wealth). These are all due for a comeback in our age of The Millionaire Next Door.

But the millionaires are not next door. They are elsewhere. Today's subscription-requiring Wall Street Journal includes an article titled "Never Mind Pesky Scandals — Execs See Home Values Soar":

One has seen the value of his island getaway quadruple since he built it. Another just sold his Aspen "cottage" for $10 million -- more than five times what he paid for it. And then there's former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who may have lost his $16.8 million Manhattan co-op, but can still relax at his $5.7 million Nantucket estate [shown] -- or at homes in Boca Raton, Fla., and Beaver Creek, Colo.

Judging by the headlines, 2002 was a pretty bad year for America's chief executive officers, from the debacles of WorldCom and Enron to a host of embarrassing Chapter 11 filings. But judging by the current values of their homes, many of them have made some pretty good investments. Indeed, while ordinary Americans watched their home prices grow an average 6% in 2002, some of the more newsworthy CEOs did far better, with the home values of a handful growing more than 40% in 12 months.

What's the word for hatred of the rich? Or, rather, hatred of the abusive behavior of the rich toward the people that help enrich them? Email me suggestions.

{ 3:58 PM }

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