Recession or no recession some New Yorkers continue to rake it in.

If there are more billionaires in the world it's good for the billionaires. Spread the wealth!

@Uraniumfish my thoughts exactly its not as if we benefit from Bloomberg's billions..

We can't depend on others for our money. We have to be aggressive and go get it ourselves. My goal for 2010 is to be a millionaire. I could shoot for billionaire, but I want to work my way up.

What does anyone need $18 billion for? What could one person possibly want with all of that? He should take half of it and build a better MTA. Or something. What else does this city need that could be easily provided for us by the charming Bloomberg?

@BroadwayBK so true.. hes a bachelor isn't he? ...no kids or other heirs I presume?

I doubt people like Bloomberg see money as something they can use and enjoy. For some people, weirdly, it's a kind of bloodsport to make money, though they're awful at spending it. Rupert Murdoch just gave his billions to the Bill Gates Foundations, because he didn't seem to have much imagination about how to give it to charity fruitfully.

@Uraniumfish at least Murdoch gave the money to a foundation which seems to be doing a lot of good work around the globe. Hurrah for him!

@Uptowngirl: I concur. Bill Gates is a wonderful guy. Very humble and down-to-earth. He and his wife started the foundation with the goal of helping others. And that is what he's doing. I commend him for what he does.

Yeah, I like what Bill Gates is doing with the foundation. He and Bill Clinton rank pretty high in my list of superheroes.

Agreed. They're both admirable for their charity work. And it's not like either Bill Clinton or Bill Gates have anything to prove any more. They have both achieved so much already.

My mother said something interesting the other day - that in NYC - money isn't spent, it's hoarded and then seen as power. You don't have to buy anything, but if people know you've got multiple 0s in the bank account they'll treat you differently. She was bemoaning the money = power dynamic among certain sets of NYC types. What do you guys think?

@ajadeidealist I'm not sure that's true. She's right about money = power, but money doesn't have to = cash. It can also be power if it's invested in coveted real estate, for example, or splashy art.

@ajadedidealist and DBlack I tend to agree with both of you ..most of the city's wealthy set do have their millions and billions in the form of various tangible assets which can be translated into 00's and treated as their net worth hence the power associated with the hoard. Hardly think the city's billionaires keep their money in liquid asset form they would want to earn additional interest/rent with every cent.

Aren't assets considered wealth, just like hoarded sums of money are?

@BroadwayBK that's what I meant in my post doesn't it sound right?

@Uptowngirl: Actually, most of the wealthy in this city have assets that are tied up in real estate, stocks, and mutual funds. They do have cash, but not much of it. At least not on hand. They may have a ton of it in the bank, but use it to pay bills and to use for emergency situations.

@uptowngirl I guess I was more responding to DBlack, who pointed out that it's not just cash they're hoarding. As in, isn't it all just two sides of the same coin?

It's really incredible what rich people (not all, but some) do with their money. I used to work in a nightclub where people buy expensive bottles of booze just to be seen buying the booze. One night there was a Cristal war: two separate tables were buying bottles of Cristal (1000 bucks a pop) by the case just to out do each other. And, on a separate night, one of my tables bought a 30,000 dollar bottle of champagne and made every body stop and watch as it was opened. It is sickening. But, all these kinds of people want is to be perceived as better than everyone else. It's not the money. It's definitely the power.

That's crazy, @JenMac. And slightly disturbing. Who spends $1000 on a bottle of champagne - is Cristal even that good? For the price, I mean - there's plenty of top-notch champagnes that aren't Cristal that certainly aren't $1000 a bottle.

@JenMac Wow! that's gross.. sickeningly gross...

@JenMac: I'll bet those people putting on a show are young ones between 20 and 29 years of age. Am I right or did I miss the mark.

Oh, yes, when someone gets rich, often they do not know what to do with the money, so they go out and spend it. They do what they can to impress their significant other, or their friends. They want to see if they can outdo the other, just as JenMac had commented. It is basically an ego thing. You get a lot of money and you get a swelled head. This is not the same for everyone who gets rich, but you will see it much of the time.