The new status symbol of the country's affluent class is no longer jewelry, but expensive mobile phones, Ipods or designer labels.

VOA: standard.2009.09.19

In his new book he looks at the rise of the mass affluent class and its discontents.

FORBES: Side Lines

Over that period, a large coastal affluent class, now increasingly elderly, enjoyed a spectacular run of rising real estate prices and in some places, like Silicon Valley, a progression of stock windfalls.

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You know, it's an affluent middle class sort of cookie cutter "Leave It To Beaver" image.

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