A few thousands of those...
...and tens of thousands of three-quarter-million and hundreds of thousands of several-kilobuck ($/€/£, whatever) cars are insignificant. They're ridiculously extravagant, granted, but actually not all that big a deal: They're an actual product, with both practical and residual-monetary value, and the process of manufacturing them makes a living for qualified workers and engineers; it's not as if it were on the same level of conspicuous consumption as "sinking". (Sure, those workers and engineers could be "more gainfully" employed making VW Golfs and Skoda CitiGos -- but lots of their colleagues already are; there's no shortage of Golfs and CitiGos.)
And in the final analysis, these cars are a minuscule part of the world economy. Yeah, yeah, a striking symbol of "all that is wrong with the economy today", sure; go on using it for all I care -- as long as you remember that as a symbol, it's more striking than actually fitting.
And in the final analysis, these cars are a minuscule part of the world economy. Yeah, yeah, a striking symbol of "all that is wrong with the economy today", sure; go on using it for all I care -- as long as you remember that as a symbol, it's more striking than actually fitting.
