Do the decadent world and the power of wealth presented in The Great Gatsby hold little relevance to a modern reader?

I would
argue that the novel is more relevant to modern readers now than it might have been 20 years
ago.  Right before the current recession, many Americans were living beyond their means.  While
they didn't live in -esque houses, they were certainly buying houses and other material
items that they could not afford to maintain.  If one considers that the Roaring 20s led to the
Great Depression (in part) and that America's obsession with materialism and propensity for
taking on debt led to our current situation, then the modern reader should see many similarities
between Gatsby's time period and ours.