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Who is paying for the global city?
‘The secret of this new age of the city state, is that it runs on other people’s money’

by: Janan Ganesh

https://www.ft.com/content/e7067ffc-...0-90a9d1bc9691

I know people in various lines of corporate work who have each accumulated air miles above the value of the average house in England. That is £235,000. One of them cannot remember the last time he paid for a flight. These are not the gods of finance who score a million miles a year. They are, in the main, salaried professionals who shuttle around to serve clients.

In the course of their travels, they will also rack up hotel loyalty points that, like the miles, are incurred on their employers’ tab but theirs to keep.
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There is a class of workers who can live above their means (as defined by their salaries) by leaning on miles, points, expenses and other supplements. There is a class of restaurant, bar, hotel and airline that could not survive in its present form without this tapestry of indirect income.

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