Yale Professor Writes Book About How the Ultra-Wealthy are Ruining Jackson Hole, WY

Martin Kuprianowicz | | Post Tag for Industry NewsIndustry News
Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West documents the class divide in Teton County and the effect the ultra-wealthy are having on the area. Photo by Connect Media

A new book about how America’s top 1% are ruining Jackson Hole, Wyo., has become a recent topic of discussion at the dinner table. The book, authored by Yale professor Justin Farrell, has received excellent reviews as it illustrates the effect of the ultra-rich on communities in the West like Jackson Hole, Buckrail reports.

“A Yale sociology professor documents the class divide in Teton County, Wyo., where ultra-wealthy tech CEOs, financiers, and political figures are buying up land and romanticizing rural poverty in order to improve their own socioeconomic status.”—Publishers Weekly

 Farrell’s book is titled Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West and was published by the Princeton University Press. Born in Wyoming and having spent 5 years in Teton County, Farrell has seen first hand how billionaires are pushing out the millionaires in Jackson Hole by buying up land and leveraging “one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world to climb even higher on the socioeconomic ladder,” Buckrail reports.

Farrell interviewed many of Jackson Hole’s ultra-rich for the book, and found several constants among many of them. A lot these rich folk believe that they are blending in with and actually helping long-time members of Jackson Hole’s community. He highlights just how much money is pouring into the area which — by anybody’s terms — is quite the sum. The book sparks curiosity and can really make one wonder where all this is headed.

Photo by The Princeton University Press

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5 thoughts on “Yale Professor Writes Book About How the Ultra-Wealthy are Ruining Jackson Hole, WY

  1. Old Bills fun run stands for Old Billionaire and has raised 173m for the areas non profits…hope the jackass Prof from Oklahoma who now is a socialist at Yale mentions that…

    1. 173 Million is a drop in the bucket to these people have found a way to own everything…and many only give to not look as bad as they really are…not genuinely.

  2. It’s tipping the scale for the entire state
    Inflating land prices to a point of unobtainable dimensions.
    The virtually useless land will remain , but for how long no one really knows.
    The sad part of it all
    They build monsterous homes they hardly live in.
    Simply because they can.
    Every place that was once endeared for it’s beauty will be nothing but oddly shaped homes
    And some have horrendous tastes

  3. Do t they always ruin what they touch? Thats why a ruchrich man can scarcely get into Christs Kingdom. They use their money to abuse people with less. They buy chaos, violence, murder, destruction, etc….God will pay them back and get vengeance on them.

  4. The first time I saw Jackson Hole was 1965 stayed at the rundown Wort Hotel and watched the bears eat at the dumps

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