If you want to understand how quicklyrnthe very rich are becoming very richer, don't read about hedge funds, alternative-minimum-tax revenues or acquisitions by private capital. Those.things are boring. Look at the difference between the change in the average price of a restaurant meal in the Zagat restaurant surveys and the change in those singled out in its America's Top Restaurants 2008 guide. The price of the average restaurant meal went up 2.3% last year, while the average price at the places that make Zagat's top list went up 3.8%. But if you look at the cities where the very rich live, the dining wealth gap is even wider. In New York City, the price of Zagat's average restaurant meal didn't change at all—up just 0.1%—while at the most expensive 20, it was up 11.1%. In Washington, it's 2.1% vs. 7.6%; Chicago, 3.3% and 6.7%; Atlanta, 3% and 7.8%. If there were a city called Hedgefundville, you'd need scientific notation to calculate the differential.
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