Chuckled at this, nice one.

I'm very interested to learn more about these WhatsApp only businesses, maybe it could be replicated in the West.

Are there any good resources/blogs/people/etc I should look at to learn more?

What is the point you're trying to make here? Interesting sources but find it difficult to follow.

Apparently, and if I'm getting that right, that there are many other ways in which societies can organize themselves to produce riches and the arguably undesirable one we've got right now is not unavoidable despite being sold as such.

This is it to me as well

I only lurk HN but seems that comments such as these are becoming commonplace now.

Why the accusatory and negative tone? How does this contribute to the discussion in a meaningful way at all?

Made an account for the sole purpose of commenting on this. CNN is usually pretty out of touch, this is completely backwards for what should be a "respectable" news source.

As others have mentioned, these "ultra rich flashy billionaires" are not the typical Monaco resident. These people are heavily looked down upon if they're just out to attract attention, and usually they're driven out of the principality once the money tap goes dry.

There is a lot of money in the city, a lot of family offices, banks and so on. People are pretty quiet and keep to themselves. Go to Cap d'Ail or Cap Martin for a walk and you'll see the same Monaco 4-character plate cars, but with the actual residents who just want to live their lives without the hassle of trying to look cool at Buddha Bar every night.

And the main point, as has been mentioned many times: people who get the residency card in Monaco are unlikely to spend much time there, beyond the mandatory 6 months + 1 day. Some pay people to run their taps and leave lights on, faking utilities usage as a proxy for physically being there. Others are in either at a nice canton in Switzerland or partying in NYC.

Yeah, Monaco is a weird city when it comes to showing wealth

I crossed it recently on my worn out but functional bicycle, to go from where I had to be in France to a cute touristy village in Italy (it was a lovely ~80km ride)

I saw a shinny Ferrari being pulled over as I entered Monaco. (he probably thought he was some f1 driver in the tunnel) On the other end of the small country, a cop saluted me when I asked directions, then blocked the road to let me cross safely.

Only in Monaco.

(I also happened to have asked directions to a French cop earlier, and he wasn't as classy. And riding a bike in the surrounding area in France is very dangerous, because of angry car drivers) I plan to come back to visit the museums, and to go to the stadium.

They frequently stop cars that are entering at the "border", especially if the plates aren't from Monaco. If the Ferrari had the 4-character plates it likely would have been let through without a second look.

Quite a few reasons they do this, but the police prefers cyclists so worked out for you.