It's a sign of the times...

Even the wealthy cannot escape this whirlpool of an economy that the world is not harboring. 

They may not be losing jobs or standing in welfare lines, but they are struggling to maintain lives that this volatile economy no longer permits. Artists and the affluent, alike, have resorted to pawning off wildly underestimated assets: art.

Companies such as Art Capital and ArtLoan are now thriving. They issue loans of 500,000 or more at interest rates ranging from 6 percent to 16 percent to the wealthy who are willing to part with their Rubens in order to maintain three town houses and daily lunches. 

It may be headquartered on Madison Avenue, but it doesn't help to divert minds and eyes from what this company really is: a pawnshop. It also brings to light the dire position our economy is really in if famed photographer Annie Leibovitz and rich collectors like Veronica Hearst  are among such companies' clientele.