Greenwich, Connecticut real estate, politics, and more.
Greenwich, Connecticut real estate, politics, and more
20 West Way has sold for $3.440 million, down from its April ask of $4.2, but a nice price all the same. Ordinarily, an excessively optimistic price can retard a sale, but these times and this market are not ordinary. Besides, it’s Lucas Point.
Joe and Hunter arrive in China, 2013
Joel Kotkin: China and the Oligarchs
Tech elites and their Wall Street allies, as opposed to more populist candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, ruled Democratic primaries. Whereas Sanders and (to a lesser extent) Warren ran legitimately grassroots-backed campaigns, they could not withstand the money, influence, and media power of the oligarchies. In the presidential race Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the backing of Wall Street, tech, and Hollywood moguls, including bundlers who allowed them to raise unprecedented money. Among financial firms, communications companies and lawyers, Biden outraised Trump by five to one or more.All these interests had one main priority: to remove the disruptive, irascible, and unpredictable Donald Trump. If spending tens of millions wired from the coasts to may not create a Democratic Senate, the executive alone can deliver on the critical aspects of the oligarchic agenda: friendly ties to China, the suspension of antitrust action, a full-bore assault on the tangible economy, and executive action that damages the great American heartland in favor of the dense, high-cost coastal areas. Consider this agenda’s winners and losers one by one.
China: The Big Winner
Trump’s willingness to stand up to China’s economic, political, and media threats constituted his signature departure from the corporate elite—notably in tech, where the oligarchs remain generally friendly to China. Beijing can count on friends from Never Trumping free traders to high fliers in Hollywood, the legacy media, and Silicon Valley, all of whom have censored critical coverage of China’s handling of the pandemic, and most of whom are allied to the amoralists on Wall Street.
The corporate members of the Biden coalition generally see China as a source of customers and capital, not a threat to American industries. The new Democratic gentry, epitomized by former New York Mayor and super-mogul Michael Bloomberg, even express open admiration for the Communist regime. Not surprisingly Vice President Biden, whose own family had had close business ties with Beijing, has minimized the Chinese threat to our economy, claiming incredibly last year that “you know, they’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what? They’re not competition for us.”
As the Biden family saga reveals, the most enduring reason for embracing China is, of course, money. Since 1990 the U.S. deficit in trade goods with China has ballooned from under $10 billion annually to over $345 billion last year. China’s ratio of imports to exports was four to one in 2018. This has enriched many of our leading manufacturing companies—notably Apple—while costing an estimated 3.4 million job losses in the U.S. since its inclusion in the World Trade Organization in 2001.
China trade has benefited consumers of course, at least for the short run. But it has also emboldened the army of lobbyists and political forces paid to hustle for “open trade” with the crony Communist regime. Numerous prominent figures from both parties, including former GOP Speaker John Boehner as well as former China ambassador and Democratic Senator Max Baucus, have signed up to defend China’s interests; we can imagine they will be fine with allowing China to go ahead and conquer Taiwan. Like Stalin’s liberal apologists in the 1930s, some progressives, including the Atlantic’s Peter Beinart, even deny that China’s economy engages in “cheating,” particularly through the theft of technology.
Glenn Reynolds, who linked to this article, comments that “our political class is easily bought”. I’ve seen reference to the “political class” for years and finally looked it up. Wikipedia offers a succinct definition:
Political class, or political elite is a concept in comparative political science originally developed by Italian political theorist Gaetano Mosca (1858–1941). It refers to the relatively small group of activists that is highly aware and active in politics, and from whom the national leadership is largely drawn. As Max Weber noted, they not only live "for politics"—like the old notables used to—but make their careers "off politics" as policy specialists and experts on specific fields of public administration.[1] Mosca approached the study of the political class by examining the mechanisms of reproduction and renewal of the ruling class; the characteristics of politicians; and the different forms of organisation developed in their wielding of power.
Elected legislatures may become dominated by subject-matter specialists, aided by permanent staffs, who become a political class.[2]
Albermarle House: 55 rooms, 16,000 acres
It’s now the “Trump Winery” (technically, owned by son Eric, but that’s like saying Hunter is on the board of Burisma because of his knowledge of the oil business) and it’s open to all oenophiles, regardless of political persuasion.
Looking at the future of over-built mansions in 2007, Easton was dubious:
“I’ve built all these Georgian houses, we’re talking about 15-to-25,000-square-foot houses,” he said. “Young people are not going to build that way. They still are up in Greenwich, but that’s the last blast. We can’t afford to. No, I think in the day and age when people are starving and dying, the earth can’t afford it.”
Bottoms up!
Update: There are many articles on Albemarle House, but this 2015 story in The Washingtonian not only touches on its history but provides a taste of the media’s Trump coverage to come. Venomous, contemptuous and false (Trump did not “betray his old friend” when he purchased the estate for $6.5 million: he bought it, not from Patrica Klug, and certainly not Trump’s friend John Klug, who had long before ceded ownership to 30-year-younger Patricia as part of their divorce settlement, but from the bank that had already foreclosed on the property).
I have irrefutable proof that the Russians stole the 2016 election! That they planted those emails in Hunter’s laptop! Oh, when will they stop, when will they stop?!!!
Adam Schiff (!) frets that Republican investigations will impede Biden’s ability to govern.
During an interview on Thursday, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) agreed with MSNBC host Joy Reid that congressional Republicans would likely spend the next four years conducting such investigations.
"They want to go after Hunter Biden still," carped Joy Reid to Adam Schiff. "They want to go after the investigations that led to impeachment. ….
"Is this what we're going to have to sit through for the next four years?" Reid asked. "Republicans just doing investigations and refusing to legislate?"
Schiff said he shared Reid's concerns about Republicans spending their time investigating rather than legislating ….
"I do expect in the new Congress that yes, they'll continue to try to go after Joe Biden and delegitimize Joe Biden," Schiff said.
What rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Austin?
Wall Street is considering fleeing to Texas. New Jersey’s planning to tax NASDAQ’s trading transactions to the tune of billions, New York is whistling up its own new taxes, and San Francisco’s adding taxes to its toxic stew of homeless meth addicts and crime, so the goose is flapping its wings and getting ready to fly to the desert sands of Texas. But why would Texas let in plague carriers?
Wall Street billionaires turned Left long ago, and now, having fouled their own nests, they’re looking about for new, virgin territory, where they’ll set about recreating the same conditions they seek to escape.
Katy bar the door.
74 Upper Cross Road, 14,000 sq. ft. on 16 acres, was reduced today to $7.450 million; it started at $8.975 in June.
There’s an interesting sales history here: although these owners paid just $7.5 for it in 2017, the previous owners paid $13.5 in 2012 (admittedly, they were represented by David Ogilvy, who was often overly-enthusiastic about the Conyers Farm area), and the sale before that was for $10 million, in 2000.
I’ll note that, at sixteen acres, the lot is large enough to hunt deer with a rifle (the hunter being armed, not the deer), and the avid nimrod could effect an economy by eschewing a trip to Nova Scotia, say, and merely take potshots from an upstairs window. That saving, combined with today’s price-cut, might just swing the deal.
14 Clark Street, Old Greenwich was listed at $2.495 million, closed yesterday at $2.601. Just a one-car garage, but you’re lucky to even get that at this pitiful price level.
12 Stanwich Road, $4.995 million, twenty-two days. Built by Aberdeen (they’re good) in 2000 and recently freshened up and lightly updated.
Contract on 50 Vineyard Lane reported. Originally listed for $5.999 million in April 2019, it hadn’t sold by September 2020, even though it had been reduced to $4.7, so it was withdrawn from the market, some fresh paint slapped around, and returned to the market at $4.995 6 days ago. Bingo.
Be notified of new posts! Sign-up here:
Want to comment without registering?
