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Another Perspective
Jobs and ‘The Rich’
On prominent display on the south Jersey shore.
SEA ISLE, N.J. — How many pretzels does it take to build a castle in the sand? How many cans of jalapeño dip does it take to build a $30 million mansion on the ocean so huge that it makes the neighboring $10 million beach houses look somewhat run-of-the-mill, even puny?
Well, the lawsuits are over and the 14,000-square-foot beachfront mansion built by Utz potato chip and pretzel magnate Michael Rice and his wife Jane is up and running on top of the dunes in Avalon, the tony beach town to the south of us in South Jersey.
The anti-mansion demonstrators are gone — some way gone, having moved out of town in disgust after failing to stop the building of a mansion on top of Avalon’s High Dunes, a unique two-mile stretch of undeveloped maritime forests and sandy grasslands along the ocean, one of the few such pristine areas remaining along the East Coast.
Last June, I interviewed one the organizers of the lawsuits and protests against Rice. “No one needs a house that big,” she said. “He already has a vacation house here that’s big enough.”
She was right about Rice’s former home in Avalon being “big.” A snazzy beachfront manor with a library, elevator, spa, seven baths, and seven bedrooms, it was on the market last year for $12 million.
The new house reportedly has 10 master bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a pool, and a maid’s quarters. And a better view — from the top of the dunes, you can see both the ocean and the bay.
On the “needs” part of her comment, however, the anti-mansion community organizer sounded too much like Obama when he said we shouldn’t be reducing federal deficits by cutting programs while simultaneously allowing others to keep money that they’ve earned but “don’t need.”
Who will be the judge of who needs what? Which agency or bureaucrat will decide if anyone needs a $1 million Ferrari Enzo or a $10 million yacht? Who will decide that the workers building the new mansions, yachts, and Ferraris should be out of work?
As France’s new Socialist president, François Hollande famously said, “I don’t like the rich.” His idea of “fairness” is to raise the top tax rate in France to a confiscatory 75 percent on incomes over 1 million euros ($1.27 million), and that’s on top of France’s real estate taxes, a value added tax on consumption that tops out at 19.6 percent, a gasoline tax of $4.50 a gallon, and other assorted levies.
Also on the agenda of the French redistributionists are new and higher taxes on wealth, second homes, and inheritances.
On February 27, two months prior to his election victory, Hollande declared, “What I don’t accept is indecent wealth, compensation that has no relation to talent, intelligence or effort.”
It’s not clear which members of France’s newly empowered Socialist Party or committee of levelers will be authorized to determine what is an “indecent” amount of compensation for the innumerable types and levels of “talent, intelligence or effort.”
Two weeks after Hollande’s election, Bloomberg News reported on the initial and predictable response of “the rich” in France: “‘It’s open hunting season on wealthy people in France,’ said François Micheloud, a partner at Lausanne, Switzerland-based Micheloud & Cie., which helps foreigners relocate to the Alpine nation. ‘The number of French asking for assistance has tripled in the last 18 months.’”
A headline in Der Spiegel tells the same story: “Wealthy French Take Their Assets To London.”
In 1990, employing the same rhetoric we’re now hearing in France and from the White House about getting “the rich” to pay their “fair share,” Congress passed a 10 percent “luxury tax” on high-end jewelry, aircraft, and yachts.
About the Author
Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise and an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (54) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 6.13.12 @ 7:10AM
I have a sister who would embrace that French Socialist (Communist) with joy. She believes that every single dime in the world rightfully belongs to her, and she is miserable when she hears that somebody has something nice that they "don't deserve" -- meaning that it belongs to them instead of to her, of course. Mark Twain once defined "tained money" as "T'aint yours, and T'aint mine."
My nephew, now 24 and on his way to his first $1 million by age 35, when he was 3 years old, walked up to a child screaming on the floor of FAO Schwarz and told her, "You are going to Hell." He's the son of that sister. He ought to tell that to his mom.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 10:02AM
Yeah. Your Sister's an Idiot, but I bet that she's gonna VOTE, November. And, I bet she's gonna Vote for somebody who's actually one of the two Candidates, from one of the two Major Parties - Republican or Democrat.
Meanwhile, that ones' sister - YOU - will still have your head, firmly planted up your @ss, WAITING for your Prince Charming Candidate, who's never gonna come. And, you will be one of the Legoin of Stupid Bastards, not only willing to Cut of their Nose to Spite their Face, but Blow Off their Heads to Spite their Hats.
And, if The Muslim wins?
You couldn't care less.
You've got one foot in the grave, and the other one on a Banana Peel. You could care less what happens to the rest of us. As long as you can drop dead, with the knowledge that you kept your principles intact.
You think that makes you special.
My Grandmother woulda said you were nothing but a stubborn old Mule.
And, she'd be right.
Boar Hunter| 6.13.12 @ 12:08PM
I think that I too will drop dead having held my principals intact. At what price should I be asked to sell them?
Without a doubt, Romney will be the next president, so like Appleby, my willingness to speak out about by refusal to vote for Romney is no more than a token gesture especially since I live (for now) in California.
And when Romney wins, I believe that I may haunt you with my I told you so. "IF" (wow that was a big IF) I am wrong about the useless, vacillating coward then I will return with my apology.
By the way, as opposed to attacking another conservative, perhaps you could save some of your vitriol for those still voting for Ron Paul?
Doctor Right| 6.13.12 @ 1:50PM
He can't help it. He's an angry white guy.
It comes through in ALL of his various personas...TLP, Clint, etc...he can't help it.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:28PM
At what price?
How about: The Survival of this Nation?
Is that ENOUGH for you, and your Precious Integrity?
Warrior| 6.13.12 @ 6:03PM
We have to believe that Romney will act as a conservative, unfortunately, there is nothing in his resume as an elected official that indicates he will. Maybe we can agree that if Boehner remains speaker and McConnell becomes the senate majority leader that there is nothing we can point to historically that would give us confidence in their actions either. I sure hope I'm wrong.
Appleby| 6.13.12 @ 7:18AM
P.S. Ben Stein, where are you?
Pecos Pete| 6.13.12 @ 7:19AM
This article reads like a description of the federal government.
R Martin| 6.13.12 @ 8:16AM
Let’s not be too hard on the French. In the nineteenth century the country produced one Frederic Bastiat, an economist, politician and entrepreneurial businessman, who became a champion of economic freedom and a writer of laws to protect life, liberty and property.
Today his views are advanced by the Bastiat Society which promotes the fact that the world is getting better because peaceful and profitable business creates wealth for everyone. The Society website is worth a look.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:33PM
And Benedict Arnold was America's Greatest General, until he became a Traitor.
Should we go easy on Him, as well?
What about JUDAS?
Your "logic" escapes me?
megapotamus | 6.13.12 @ 9:21PM
Who or what did Bastiat betray? Nothing that shouldn't have been betrayed as far as I can tell. From your non-sequitur I presume you have never heard the name before. You also seem innocent of the meaning of the word logic, and the uses of quotation marks. Quite a sweep.
Mr Martin, I ran across a soft-cover Bastiat some years ago, in English of course. I had read a good bit of it before turning to the foreward and finding he was a Frenchman! It was a surprise but we live and we learn. Some of us, anyhow.
Maxwell| 6.13.12 @ 8:17AM
Most days on my way to work I pass Princeton Porsche. Of course I stop and look & because it is 6:00 AM no one is there but me & the 'adult toys'. I drool, read the list of options and sticker price, and while many are north of 100k, I smile, laugh to myself and shake my head.
Will I ever own a Porsche, no, but I think of the jobs that Princeton Porsche generates from the truckers that deliver the car, dealer prep, wrenches, sales staff, people that clean the building, and sales tax for the state.
What do I think of the people that have such a neat car, they are lucky & I am glad for them because I get to see & hear the car.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:35PM
You, Sir, get it.
I congratulate you.
megapotamus | 6.13.12 @ 9:32PM
I don't know if I would own a Porsche or similar vehicle even if I could afford it but I am glad they exist. Too bad the yacht taxers didn't take the same attitude. I guess they never intended to destroy the domestic yacht industry but they should have known that would be the effect. Boats are even MORE fungible than cars. Mr Reiland says that the yacht owners will simply have to do with the same musty old skiff but really they will not feel even that inconvenience. What happened was that overseas shipwrights (including Canadians) just booked the orders that would have gone to Maine or New Jersey. But you can't just turn off the taxes and then turn the lights back on in the yards. In the meantime the carpenters have found other work, almost certainly paying less, but the team that laid a keel and built it up to the gunwhales will never be reconstituted. I think that has been born out with the yacht tax and given the peculiarities of trade in oceangoing boats the effects that Laffer, von Mises or Friedman predicted happened with especial severity and finality. Too bad and again, I don't really even care for the product.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 6.13.12 @ 8:22AM
Spend a little time in the early a.m. at the Wawa convenience store in Avalon, and you will have a sense of all of those contractors employed on projects such as the one described here (and while you're at it, buy a bag of Utz Salt & Vinegar chips, and contribute towards redistributing the wealth much more efficiently than Obama could ever dream of).
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:38PM
The man behind UTZ, Earned his riches, because, as the esteemed Walter E. Williams has often stated: He SERVED his fellow man.
Period.
Cobalt| 6.13.12 @ 4:56PM
Mr. Utz will pay a heavy property tax
to the Borough of Avalon each year, which will be used to help cover the municipal budget. Therefore, Mr. Utz and his family will always contribute to providing local employment for others.
CJW| 6.13.12 @ 5:38PM
Albert,
We go to Avalon every summer. Great place. Did you see the mansion on the beach built by Utz?
During my morning walk I see the lawn maintenance at the two million dollar homes done my Mexicans, never an American.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 6:16PM
I do Landscaping.
I don't use Mexicans, but I'm a small time Mr. Mom.
If you're a Big Time Landscaper, or a Roofer, or you put in Driveways, or Build Stone Walls?
Good Luck getting a White, a Black, an Asian, or a Jew.
That's just the way it is.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 6.13.12 @ 8:26PM
W;
I'm sure I've walked and driven by it, but I am not sure which one it is. I have noticed the high proportion of Mexican labor, but I see a lot of South Jersey natives, as well, particularly in the contractors and subcontractors working.
Do you know which week you will be there this year?
CJW| 6.13.12 @ 8:47PM
Albert
We will probably be there August 19 to August 26.
Will know for sure next week. We eat at Nemo's Pizza, Sylvester's, and Via Mare. Are you going this summer?
Utz's is around 48-50 th Street, the view is blocked from the road by trees. Saw part of it two years ago and it is HUGE but interesting architecture.
megapotamus | 6.13.12 @ 9:35PM
There have been princely but invisible mansions in Avalon all along. You could drive many blocks and think there was nothing but dunes between you and the surf.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 6.13.12 @ 9:43PM
I will be there in late July. We usually stay just off the boardwalk a block or two from the Municiapl Lot. We are usually down across from Hoys 5&10; in the evenings at the stand that sells the snowballs or Icees or whatever they're called getting tickets punched for free ones at the end of the week.
CJW| 6.13.12 @ 10:39PM
We are staying on 27 St, about two blocks off the beach. We usually stay between 26th and 33th. Last year we drove to Cape May, great little town, and took the bus tour. Some interesting history. There is a town square with shops, restaurants and an old stone Catholic Church that is a historic landmark.
I read the Ed McMahon owned lots of land in Avalaon in the 1950-1960's but sold out early before the boom. I saw that Wildwood is being cleaned up, new homes, especially Wildwood Crest.
c. j. acworth| 6.13.12 @ 8:24AM
I used to work for a small manufacturer of high-end ceramic tile. The least expensive stuff was above $35/sq. ft. The folks who bought our stuff were not poor or even working class, I can guarantee you. (Although, thanks to a very generous employee discount I have two very nice bathrooms and a kitchen inthe works.)
Bob K| 6.13.12 @ 8:33AM
Utz also makes Grandma's original potato chips which are still cooked (gasp!) in LARD! (double gasps!) Wait till the government, or worse yet, Bloomberg or Michelle hears about that!
http://www.utzsnacks.com/produ.....chips.html
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:39PM
They're still cooked in Michelle's @ss?
That's interesting.
C'mon Man!| 6.13.12 @ 3:37PM
I LOVE Grandma's cookies! Don't mess with Grandma, Obama!
Louis Jenkins| 6.13.12 @ 8:46AM
I cannot understand the ways of the government have nots. Wah, Wah, Wah. Allow the Utz's to have what they will have. Allow me to have what I can have. The prostestors are not protesting the building of the mansion. They are protesting the fact that they can't have one just like it. Jealously is a poor bedfellow.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:40PM
I wonder how many Jobs were Created, in the building of this house?
I'm thinking: Hundreds.
Von Mises Jr| 6.13.12 @ 9:25AM
Many Enlightenment Philosophers ideas were the product of the Industrial Revolution that ended serfdom and created the bourgeoisie wealth. The Nobles and Aristocrats from the Old Regime produced virtually nothing and collected massive taxes in land quitrents and the Monarchy collected tallies producing nothing and bankrupted France. The French Revolution resulted as the Nobles and Aristocrats schemed with the intellectuals to reverse the wealth created by the Industrial Revolution and return wealth and power to the Old Regime.
Rush keeps talking about the progressive agenda taking us back to the 1930's Depression. But in fact, the progressive agenda is so regressive that it aims to take us back to pre-1750 serfdom.
You can see it clear as day as you watch the dandies’ in Congress and the regime work to destroy SMB and innovators, shutting down our access to energy and taxing the middle class into slavery. All while the modern Monarchy spends $2B to party in India at the "Festival of Lights," throws million dollar GSA parties in Las Vegas, flies to Wall Street and Hollywood to raise money and creates "green energy" scams to pay off their Aristocrat friends. Do not King Barack XVI and the Aristocrats in Congress not know how the French Revolution turned out?
Boar Hunter| 6.13.12 @ 11:33AM
Von Mises Jr;
Yesterday, I noticed that you responded to Purp in what I would view as un uncharacteristic manner. I wanted to remind you not to let his yapping annoy you my friend. I think of you as a good neighbor with whom I converse over the top of our shared fence. As a gentleman, you make your arguments on merit, using truth and reason. Similarly, your opinion on any given subject can likewise be changed. I enjoy reading your respectfully worded opinions and I am envious of your knowledge of history and the extent which you have read and are able to expound upon the ideas of other worthy men as their ideas pertain to current events.
Please observe that in contrast, people respond to Purp like they do to a dog on the other side of a fence that wont stop barking. Any attempt to calm him is useless and becomes simply a matter of kicking the fence. Purp is simply a mean spirited little dog who envies you for your ability to walk outside the fence unmolested. As such, I would remind you not to kick Purp's fence, it is undignified for a man of your stature. It only delays you from your mission and dirties your boots, which this particular dog has not earned the right to lick.
Von Mises Jr| 6.13.12 @ 12:14PM
Actually I ignored him the time before and he claimed he had stumped me. He also called me something that rhymes with stick.
So I appreciate your kind words, but sometimes things should not go unanswered. Bush 43 did and it cost him his reputation, at least in the short-term.
There is no need to take abuse from someone who does not contribute to producing anything but hate. So I refrain from hateful names but will not shy away from false claims and personal attacks.
Thanks, Boar Hunter.
JD| 6.13.12 @ 12:49PM
I have no use for "name calling", and have no respect for those who use terms like "Obummer".
However, it is the left that invented the (hypocritical) practice of decrying "negative" political discourse when the true threat is "dishonest", not "negative". I have no problem with describing people as what they are. If they are hypocrites, fools, or liars, call them so.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:43PM
The Left made MOVIES on how to KILL George W. Bush.
And, you've got no time for Name Calling?
Get over yourself.
JD| 6.13.12 @ 3:33PM
Yes, they did. And I will point that out whenever they use the word "vitriol" against us in a debate, such as in the Giffords shooting.
But I won't stoop to their level. We can beat them on facts and ideas. We dilute our message when we throw in name-calling.
Warrior| 6.13.12 @ 6:14PM
The Founding Fathers understood that facts and ideas would only go so far. Conflict becomes necessary because human nature requires it.
Cobalt| 6.13.12 @ 3:31PM
Excuse me for intruding here, but this old idiom might be appropriate:
"If you can't run with the big dogs, you'd better stay under the porch."
Petronius| 6.13.12 @ 12:26PM
1. "Share your toys and play nice" is not Law. Too many believe its a community property right. Those who believe it is never read Marx, Rousseau, or The Leveler Papers. The last time the Chicago Bulls won the NBA title, marauding mobs trashed Stewart Brent's book store on Michigan Ave. and didn't take anything. The late Mike Royko wrote a column about their behavior that night but could not bring himself to nail those vandals with a charge of willful ignorance which is also the hand maiden of every economically illiterate boob who is devoted to his or her sand box mentality. Anything requiring active thinking is anathema to them. And those who think cannot be controlled. Ergo, jobs and benefits have been reduced to community property rights too. Work is no more than a commodity to be divided fairly; just like the Europeans do. And besides, employers want a docile work force. Only one "worker" in a million, (me), realizes that company, union, and government act in concert to keep "the workers" in their place: just like Europe. The word Racket should replace the word 'market' before the word economy. And legislators like the my erstwhile Congressman, Dickless Gephardt love it that way. Ask anybody who got laid off from Cessna and Beechcraft in Wichita back then. They'll tell you.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:53PM
Bruce Wayne's Butler, told a story about a man who would burn down the Villages in Burma (I think) during WWII. The Villagers attempted to buy him off with precious gems, but he still kept terrorizing their Villages.
When the British Troops went out to to track this guy down? They found the Gems strewn all over the ground.
When Bruce Wayne asked him, why?
Alfred responded: "Some men just like to watch the World Burn".
That's where we are, I'm afraid.
And, their Leader sits in the Oval Office, when he's not Golfing, Throwing Parties, on Vacation, or going to 5 Fund Raisers a day, every day.
megapotamus | 6.13.12 @ 9:12PM
You misremember slightly. It was the Brits who burnt down the forest to end that nasty gem trade. And it did.
JStC| 6.13.12 @ 1:01PM
""So that the record is absolutely crystal clear, that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system."...WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT....first off....this building is being built for a specific purpose and it does not fall under the category of free enterprise....bcz if the writer of this article is defining these activities as that...time to rethink....
Butch| 6.13.12 @ 3:53PM
First, the author was quoting Milton Friedman, Nobel laureate in economics. Second, the "building," a residence, consists of many materials--bricks, tiles, lighting fixtures, appliances, wood trims, etc.--all selected on the open market by the owners or their contractors from a wide variety of such materials available in that market.
The general contractor was selected from among many possible general contractors, based on his combination of final product and price offered. That general contractor selected several subcontractors from the market of subcontractors. Of course it was free enterprise.
Peppermint Tea | 6.13.12 @ 2:14PM
I think it was Moses who wrote: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's beach house."
Isn't the left all about coveting and stealing?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 6.13.12 @ 8:30PM
Moses may have gotten the "as told to" credit, but the Author and Originator had that on His Top 10 list.
cicero| 6.13.12 @ 2:26PM
The chattering classes, and greivance mongers seem to think that making money in a capitalist market is somehow easy. That is why they think that anything you have as a result of your own efforts have somehow been lost to them. The factoid of the original Utz's making potoatoe chips in their kitchen sounded like they were engaged in a simple task enjoyed during commercials on the radio. Once you understand that, to make 50 pounds of potatoe chips, it takes 500 pounds of potatoes, the picture changes.
Good for the Utz family. After more than 3 generations, they have not yet dissipated the fortune that their ancestors founded.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:55PM
That's because, like their Messiah, they've never had a REAL JOB in their lives.
It's no more complicated, than that.
Seek| 6.13.12 @ 6:16PM
I will grant to Mr. Rice and his family the right to live as well as they please. But there is something utterly vulgar about trading in their suddenly obsolete home for something this size. It's a beach home, for God's sake. Who needs this sort of opulence? I'll let public discontent rather than taxes serve as a brake on avarice gone wild.
Thom| 6.13.12 @ 6:51PM
Seek, your comments are the poster child for Marist’s line of thinking. You have no idea how many people are employed because this house is being built. The correct answer would thousands. You have no idea what tax burden the wealthy like this pay of the total tax burden (income, property, sales, etc) and you probably don’t give a rat’s rear end. You likewise have no idea that the same opulence wealth generators are the same people lending gobs of “avarice gone wild” money to the government to keep it afloat at ridiculously low rates of return on “their” money. I presume you would prefer they just sit around and count it or keep it locked up in non-liquid assets that benefits no one and carries no risk of loss? Which is it?
BTW, it is not within your power to grant anyone else the right to live as well as they please.
Thom| 6.13.12 @ 6:53PM
The Foundation of the Democrat Party can be found in this phrase, "Misery likes company". Envy is at the root of every Democrat Party power scheme. Give 10 Democrats a rain coat without a hood and put them out in a down pour and they will be happy to get soaking wet because none of them has a leg up on the others. Give one a hat and the other nine will either rip that one apart or simply destroy the hat to maintain the same childish pathology. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins. Democrats get around this by claiming they are responding to another deadly sin, greed. That violates one of the commandments regarding bearing false witness against another. A person can only be greedy if he came by his wealth through malfeasance. Robbing a person who produces something, rewarded for in a free market and giving that to someone else is theft or another commandment violation. Of course the Democrats who claim to be Christians wouldn't know anything about that since their hands are "clean" and it is the "government" that does the stealing.
Envy and all the misery laden ideologies wrapped around that have spawned the darkest chapters in humanity's struggle to rise above the dog eat dog animal world. Eventually this "dog" is going to have to be put down. It knows no income bounds, just misery for all.
Thom| 6.13.12 @ 7:10PM
For the non-Marxist in the crowd, this 30 million dollar Manson wouldn’t be an outhouse compared to the Biltmore in NC. Said House, estate has remained in private hands since it’s building in the early 1890s and is self-sufficient to this day and employs over 1700 employees directly and is the largest employer in the area where is was built over 100 years ago and there was nothing before. Numskulls like Seek would have a stroke if he were among the 8000 daily limit of visitors to such opulence wealth. The craftsmen who worked on the Biltmore for 4 years and all the direct and indirect labor generated putting the estate into operation as a huge system of farms and diaries had their standard of living greatly elevated by one man’s passion for grand visions and excellence. The Seeks of the world couldn’t contribute anything useful to such a project.
Cobalt| 6.13.12 @ 8:27PM
William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil left Chase Manhattan in New York in 1960, to return home to Asheville, N.C., to take over the operation of Biltmore House.
In 1960 Biltmore House was losing $250,000 a year. After eight years of Mr. Cecil's management, Biltmore House had its first profitable year in 1968, when it had a profit of $16.34.
Today, thanks to the Cecil family, Biltmore House is an unqualified success.
Thom| 6.13.12 @ 9:48PM
It was well worth my $40 ticket price (a gift) to be among 8000 people on Christmas day touring the output of one man and continuing families’ dream. I still remember William’s quote about why they do what they do to preserve it....
megapotamus | 6.13.12 @ 9:10PM
So Avalon had its own Occupation? If my mom still lived there I guess I would have heard about that. Good for the Utzes and good for the tradesmen, the county and other businesses. My dad was a kitchen contractor for many years there and more than doing homes he liked (and profited from) doing commercial installations like bars and restaraunts but even better than that was doing REALLY fine and large homes; the sort that spares no expense and orders everything through the contractor. Ah, if he were still in the biz he would salivate an estuary over that job and would spit, curse... possibly ignite the Dune Huggers. Sounds like they got theirs, though. I have just recently started to see Utz products here in the South, kind of like finding RC cola in Philly. Anyone who gets the chance, try those chips and pretzels. They taste of... freedom.