So there's a book that's been around for a little while, but it's actually an idea that's kind of

seeping into the culture because a lot of people have been asking me about this now. It's a book

called The Velvet Rope Economy, how inequality became big businesses by Nelson D. Schwartz.

It has more than 25 years experience as a business journalist, a fortune in the New York Times,

covering everything from energy and economics to inequality in America and business in Europe.

He now works as a communications and strategy consultant. Welcome, Nelson D. Schwartz. Thank you for

coming on. Great to be here. Thank you for having me and discussing one of my favorite topics.

Yeah, well, let's start with the title. What is The Velvet Rope Economy?

The Velvet Rope Economy is this idea that there's tearing everywhere and kind of a new sort of

caste system emerging in American society for us as consumers. So that could be nine different

lines to board a plane. It could be paying to skip the line at Disney. It could be a separate

entrance at the ballpark or the football game. It could be seeing a concierge doctor that enables

you to skip the wait for a specialist. It could be kind of a fast lane for your college admissions,

which everyone thinks of is somewhat meritocratic. I mean, I think there's been some

even criminal cases with college admissions, you know, just as I was finishing the book.

But all of these areas that at least there was a pretension to fairness, or at least you

know, you might get better service if you paid more, but everyone would be treated decently.

That began to kind of break down and we got this emergence of, yeah, of what I call The Velvet

Rope Economy, where some people are waiting behind the Velvet Rope and some are flying by.

When do you see this as having begun? When did this start happening?

You know, in fairness, some people said to me, well, hasn't it always been this way?

Well, that is a good question. But the truth is, obviously, first and second class and third class

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