Surviving the rat race in our Gilded Age

I know several lavish spenders. They've bought their second big house and made it their weekend homes. This probably explains why so many homes in gated communities are mostly dark at night. Now they are upgrading to more expensive cars, like a Porche SUVs, which sells for 2 million yuan (293,000).

Isn't it their own business if they want to buy a nicer car or a bigger house? I do not think so because the spending patterns of the elites have a cascading effect throughout society. In other words, people try to keep up with the Joneses, or the Wangs, by emulating behaviors of those in their own or higher social group.

I have a friend who is a Chinese upper middle-class professional. He lives with his wife and young son in a paid-up three-bedroom home worth 2.5 million yuan, and drives a Chrysler Sebring at a cost of about 200,000 yuan. He was thinking of quitting his job so he could pursue his passion for writing, when the family had saved enough for retirement and his son's education.