The Rich Get Dumber

Relatives of top leaders enjoy 'Red Nobility'

(NEWSER) - The wealth of Bo Xilai's family members was no anomaly. Known as "princelings," close relatives of many Chinese leaders are on a fast track to fortune and power, the New York Times reports. The president's son used to head a company with a security-scanner monopoly; the prime minister's son runs a state-owned satellite communications firm that claims it will soon be the biggest on the continent; the son-in-law of another elite official was key to a deal behind the record-breaking IPO of a state-operated bank. More»

New Jersey, California, and New York neighborhoods top the list

(NEWSER) - 90210's claim to fame extends beyond Tori Spelling and Shannen Doherty. The zip code is also one of the five priciest in America. With the help of Altos Research, Forbes crunched 20,000 zip codes' worth of real estate listings to zero in on the poshest geographic areas in the United States, according to the median asking price. ( Click for an in-depth explainer of how it came to its conclusion). Here are the top 5: More»

Common warning is actually a misquote: Trent Hamm

(NEWSER) - “Money is the root of all evil,” a concerned friend recently wrote to Christian Science Monitor financial blogger Trent Hamm, wondering why Hamm would devote his blog to helping people accumulate wealth. But that phrase, which you’ve probably heard or even said yourself, is actually a misquote, Hamm explains. Timothy 6:10, the Bible verse the friend is attempting to reference, actually says that “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Money itself, on the other hand, “is neither good nor evil,” Hamm argues. “It’s simply a medium of exchange.” More»

(NEWSER) - The feel of green can make people more resistant to low-level pain, NPR reports. Building on earlier research about the psychological power of money, experts in China conducted a study asking subjects to dip their fingers in water heated to 122 degrees Fahrenheit; those who had counted money ahead of time felt less pain. "We think money works as a substitute for another pain buffer—love," says researcher Xinyue Zhou. More»

Parents, schools angry at 'manipulative' show

(NEWSER) - Post-crash New York City has become a symbol of spiritual emptiness, writes Vanessa Grigoriadis for New York magazine. NYC Prep is the latest reality show to exploit this symbolism, allowing the rest of America to watch Manhattan’s lost souls—this time, teenagers—pursue decadence and social standing. In the past, "New York’s bright lights seemed almost tasteful compared with those on the other coast;" in the Gossip Girl world, it's become "a Louis XIV court, making nothing, obsessed with its own intrigue, on its way out." More»