Very interesting article on ASWJ 1/12/2001 about RTW fares. Here's the first paragraph of the article:

Bangkok, Thailand: The greatest air-travel bargain on earth begins and ends here: A round-the-world ticket that allows you multiple stopovers on three continents, all in the luxury of business class -- at an economy-class price. If you play your cards right, you pay as little as $2,500, which is about half what it would cost you for a standard business-class round trip from, say, Hong Kong to Los Angeles.

Try this link to read the full article http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/...2645807032.htm
[I'm a WSJi subscriber so I don't know if the article can be accessed by non-subscribers.]