One thing to remember or understand is even in the time of Napoleon, but much more in the 20th century and beyond, the rich and wealthy have used certain item c

One thing to remember or understand is even in the time of Napoleon, but much more in the 20th century and beyond, the rich and wealthy have used certain item classes as wealth and asset storage with a manipulable market. There is a real reason the art world is one of the best ways to launder money. It can also provide value as continuity plans via insurance or as overvalued collateral for large loans. In that sense, these kinds of assets provide a large amount of value to the wealthy which then feeds back into the loop. That is very different than commodities that have a first-level purpose like food and transportation.