"Living in London is a wonderful thing, but it's dangerous in a credit crunch. However gloomy the predictions on house prices, food prices and share prices, as a Londoner, it can't escape your notice that a swathe of the population appears to be completely unaffected. We are sharing our city with Russian oligarchs, City whizzes, steel magnates and retail billionaires, not to mention the landed gentry, a handful of Hollywood actors and Madonna. Granted, these super-rich citizens might comprise a tiny percentage of the population, but their near-constant presence in the papers creates a false - and persuasive - impression that their rarefied lifestyles are the norm.
"Why shouldn't I have that?" we think, as our Visa bills ratchet up to the sky. "Because I'm worth it" might be the best advertising slogan ever penned, but as a credo for living, it's a bloody disaster."
- Laura Craik, Evening Standard
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