The Oprah Winfrey Show
Oprah's Best Life Series
Harpo Films
For One More Day
The Great Debaters
O, The Oprah Magazine
Subscribe Today
Oprah Radio
Oprah's Angel Network
Oprah's Book Club
To see firsthand how the recession is affecting megarich families, Jamie heads to New York City. There, he talks to Nick Mele, the grandson of a legendary Washington, D.C., socialite, who works as a freelance photographer.
Over the years, Nick has photographed charity galas and fancy parties in communities like Newport and Palm Beach. Since the stock market began to plummet, Nick says he's noticed that some people are scaling back. "[Events] aren't nearly as full as they used to be," he says. "When so many people are having a tough time right now, to flaunt how much money you have is just bad taste."
Serena Merriman, one of Manhattan's "it" girls, says the recession is also affecting fashion. "I think there's been a trend to mix high and low fashion," she says. "I think people are embarrassed to be wearing really expensive clothes or to be carrying handbags with big logos on them."
Related Resources
- Robert Reich's book is Supercapitalism
- Read Jamie Johnson's weekly column, The One Percent, on VanityFair.com
- Learn how to download Skype™
From The Oprah Winfrey Show The Taboo Topic: What Social Class Are You Now?
