Our Foreign Corespondent David and I were recently discussing the minimalist lifestyle trend that has been gathering steam in recent years. The concept is to live with as few material possessions as possible. A Netflix documentary on the subject can be found HERE. As I mentioned to David, my wife and I came face to … More The Bare Minimum and Old Money
Greetings from Paris. I feel like one of the swans who glide up and down our section of the Seine here. They look so nonchalant and at ease. Beneath the surface of the water, however, they are paddling like mad. Such is the case for me right now, as we have several projects in the … More Responding To Your Comments
There are rare moments in life in which we’re privileged to learn about an artisan craftsman who is also a successful businessman…who is also, it seems, a really decent human being. David, our newly-christened Foreign Correspondent and long-time contributor, found this inspiring and heart-warming video about tailor Martin Greenfield. Enjoy it HERE. The video brought … More Martin Greenfield, A Tailor and a Gentleman
I often muse about the power of words. How they sometimes reflect exactly what we’re thinking, sometimes not. The most interesting of examples of word usage occur when we use words to convey an actual meaning that we are not even aware of. That famous phrase “…that all men are created equal…” comes to mind. … More A Voice, A Vote: Every Woman’s Right
Maurice, one of our community’s longtime members, asked a question recently about the role of trust funds. Of course, the term is probably one of the first things most people think about when they hear the term ‘Old Money’, with a list running something like: preppy, trust fund, Volvo, Nantucket, gin and tonic, cardigan and … More Trust Me, We’ll Have Funds
Scarlet O’Hara famously said that, ‘After tall, tomorrow is another day,’ her closing remark in Gone With The Wind engraving a defiant optimism in the minds of a generation of readers, and probably even more film fans. So, with the ravages of Covid-19 still plaguing the globe, it’s important for us to remember this as … More The Slow But Certain Dawn
Some people hoard money like their going to live forever. Some people spend it like they’re going to die tomorrow. Seek the balance. BGT
David, a long-time contributor to the blog, recently raised an issue in a private email that I thought warranted discussion. When is it ‘patriotic’ (or at least in the public interest) to intentionally spend money in order to help revive the economy? President Bush encouraged Americans to ‘go out and spend’ in order to get … More Is Spending Patriotic?
As the US deals with increasing infection rates, I thought it might be helpful and perhaps a little comforting to offer a little perspective from Paris. To recap quickly, the pandemic spread to France from northern Italy and Switzerland in January and February of this year. On March 17, 2019, the country was locked down, … More A Brief Update from Paris
“We have given our best attempts to democratic practices here over the years, with monarchs at the start and tyrants in between. As a family, we have had our ‘run of the town’ and been run out of town. People don’t remember the good you did for them when they’re part of a mob. You … More Old Money: In Their Own Words