expire-images:2008-12-26

It's a good thing that Paris Hilton gets paid so much to do appearances, she just might need the cash. On Wednesday, her grandfather, Barron Hilton announced that he's pulling a Warren Buffett and plans to donate 97 percent of his $2.3 billion fortune to charity. That number includes the $1.2 billion Barron Hilton stands to earn from both the recent sale of Hilton Hotels Corp. and pending sale of the world's biggest casino company, Harrah's Entertainment Inc. The money will be placed in a charitable trust that will eventually benefit the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, bringing its total to around $4.5 billion. it has been rumored that the senior Hilton has been embarassed by the hard-partying ways of some of his grandchildren like Paris and her sister Nicky.

The Hilton foundation supports a variety of projects. Conrad Hilton established the foundation in 1944 and left most of his fortune to it when he died in 1979 but Barron Hilton challenged the will and after a long legal battle he agreed to split ownership of the shares in the Hilton hotel empire with the foundation. The Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters, established in 1986, is the principal beneficiary of the Conrad N. Hilton Fund. It operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and supports the apostolic work of sisters around the globe. Projects focus on health care, education and social service. According to the Hilton Foundation website, in order for projects to qualify for funding, they must directly serve the economically disadvantaged, and at least one vowed member of an officially recognized Roman Catholic congregation of women must be directly involved with the project in a full-time capacity. The Sisters' Fund also awards emergency grants in response to natural disasters and political crises. Most of the grants from the Sisters' Fund are small and have gone to projects such as helping sisters in Uganda to begin poultry raising projects and in Vietnam, grants for sewing machines have helped sisters to establish vocational training programs for young, rural women. So far the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters has awarded over 3,600 grants totaling more than $38 million dollars.

The rising euro and the falling dollar have had a wide variety of effects in the world of luxury goods. For the holiday shopping season, Europeans headed to the U.S. to take advantage of the lower prices. An AP article brings up the fact that the prized "Made in Italy" label on luxury goods may cost us even more in the coming year. Italian brands such as Gucci, Armani, Fendi and Versace are finding that it is becoming more expensive to produce goods in their native land. In the article Diego Della Valle, founder of Tods leather goods, says that those who produce in Italy are at a disadvantage because it will cost them more to produce the same goods. Currently, most designers are absorbing the increased production costs, especially since consumers in the U.S. seem to be cutting back on their consumption of many luxury goods.

The question for the long run is whether or not consumers will be willing to pay more for something that is made in certain place. Currently makers of goods created in both the U.S. and Europe are at a disadvantage compared to those who produce their items in China and other places where costs are lower. But the recent recalls of toys and other products made in China has made some consumers more aware. For the last few years, the designer name has been enough of a reassurance of quality for consumers no matter where the products is made. I think, however, that we are at the start of a trend where all consumers and particularly those at the higher end of the spending spectrum will be paying more attention to where products are produced. If not, that "made in Italy" label might end up becoming a bit of a rarity as costs force designers to chose economy over tradition.