A lesson on money & politics

Think buying political office is easy? Take a look at the instructive case of New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had the law amended so he could stand for a third term. Such is Bloomberg’s skill and stature, went the argument, we can’t afford not to have him for another term. During the election, New York’s richest man spent upwards of $100 million of his personal fortune on the campaign – 13 times that of his main rival – yet barely squeaked home with 51 per cent of the vote.

It says a lot for the rambunctious state of American democracy that a) it can accept flexibility in the terms of its elections and b) the people are clearly resistant to big spending.

Trump defies recession, sits astride city like King Kong

Americans may be glad to know that Donald Trump is recession proof. The real-estate mogul, whose autobiography is entitled Think BIG And Kick Ass, recently sold a Florida mansion to a Russian billionaire for $100 million – having bought it for less than half that at a bankruptcy auction. It was on the market for $125 million, but who’s to say the canny old devil wasn’t chancing his arm?

One of The Donald’s young hotshots from the Apprentice was in charge of renovating the 18 bedroom ‘House of Friendship’ – the interior now boasts extensive marble and 24 carat gold bathroom features. Gotta speculate to accumulate, which is what the Russian is doing – this is merely an investment to the Moscow fertilizer billionaire, ranked 59 on Forbes’ most recent list, up 212 places on the previous year (that’s the Manhattan area code, conspiracy-watchers) and 309 (Illinois) above the Donald. In the interest of parity, we should note that Trump disputes Forbes’s valuation up $4 billion to seven – this would jump him to the low 130s.

To anyone who has visited the gaudy hymn to excess that is Trump Tower in Manhattan, the style of decoration inside the Florida sale will come as no surprise. In common with many New York skycrapers, the 58-storey Tower is a miniature tourist attraction; from the shop selling Trump books and golfing merchandise, to the waterfalls, escalators, Moroccan-feel bar and marble-set Starbucks – one can only sit inside and wonder at the sheer scale of it all. And another thing: where on earth did all the marble come from? Visiting the Chrysler Building, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Central Station and the Empire State, the same question rears its head. That’s a whole lotta marble; it’s two steps to the left of Ancient Rome. The sensation is reinforced by the realisation that the Emperor himself sits aloft the Tower, reclining in penthouse splendour and eating grapes.

London has similar leanings, with the Gherkin, Tower 42, the planned Shard (currently responsible for closing one slightly shoddy bar and a Boots), and Beetham Tower; then there’s the revised Tate Modern extension, which will be quite something if it ever gets built. But none of these, even the Gherkin, boast that bizarre collision of tourism and function that you find in places like 30 Rock, the home of US network NBC; studio tours, interactive experiences, shops – communism has its theme parks, why not capitalism? The atriums to many of these buildings are acknowledged public spaces, even with opening hours to say when. Who ever saw an attraction without opening hours?

769,230 royal penguins to arrive in New York, or equivalent

As our society grows, so must the space which we occupy. Population measures may soon be redundant as an offhand indicator to how big a city is (as with soft drink sizes, which relate to the eventual size of the drinker), if the news from New York is anything to go by – between 2002 and 2004, it is said that the population has collectively put on ten milllion pounds. Presuming these measures refer to the city itself, that’s 1.21 pounds per person. Doesn’t sound like much, but it is the equivalent of an extra 52,631 men or 61,349 average sized American women arriving in the city – or 833 male African elephants, or 153,846 sea otters, or 769,230 royal penguins. That’s quite a slice of immigration, or one very impressive zoo.

Such is the worrying familiarity of this manner of message, that city officials in Santa Ana, California, pledged that the populace must lose one million pounds collectively – given they total just over 350,000, that’s a bigger ask. In a news item typical of the type published in January, Oklahoma City pledged the same for 08. Will any of them make it? The intervening strain to our city’s systems doesn’t bear thinking about; making News Hour wonder if this is the secret to the rise of the Chinese dragon. The Chinese are typically smaller, with some noticeable extremes, understandable given the size of the population, and physical mass in no impediment to progress in the information age (look at Verne Troyer). No skyrocketing social, medical and transport costs to deal with. Genius.

Typically, Britain lags the US in its patterns of social change by around ten years, and the indicators are ripe that we may soon experience the same million dollar dieting. Recently, the Cheltenham Playhouse has expanded the size of its seats to accommodate today’s junk shovelling theatregoers’ ample behinds. There has also been talk of widening the gates in the Tube – imagine the indignity of having to ask for the door to be opened because you are too large to pass through the gates. What a strange world we teeter unsteadily above. Darwinism, one suspects, may come into play.

Gold: Always believe in…

Recent hikes in the price of gold must have Gordon Brown cradling his head in his hands. The former Chancellor masterminded the sale of half of Britain’s gold reserve from 1999, for reasons that some suspected were more political than economic (the latter is rarely well informed by the former). Since then the price has rocketed, and the loss of profit from the sale is estimated at around £3 billion. Still, if he needs it that badly, the Americans have plenty of it laying about, and not always where you’d expect.

New York Times metro reporter Sam Roberts stumbled into an unmarked gold repository while attempting to change some currency. It is (or perhaps now, was) across from the New York Public Library on West 39th Street, with just five security cameras providing a clue to the contents, estimated at around $4 billion in gold bullion. Just about enough to cover that loss. Perhaps this is why Mr Brown has been mending fences by insisting that he is the Americans’ best friend, rather than the French? Probably not. Given the state of the dollar, the U.S. would seem unlikely to unload any bullion at a cut-price rate.