Years ago I saw (maybe on 60 Minutes, who knows) a clip about a woman who paid an artist to do an "installation" at her apartment for $10,000. It consisted of a 3" piece of rope nailed horizontally to the wall between the entranceway door hinge and the corner of the room. That's it. It just stuck in my mind as either a glaring example of "conspicuous consumption," or of one affluent person's vulnerability to a line of bullshit. (OTOH, maybe this was all a setup to get on 60 Minutes.)