Reading this article will make you furious. In a recent article for Rolling Stone , titled "Obama's Big Sellout," Matt Taibbi eviscerates the Obama White House, saying that President Obama has . . . more
Disgraced ex-governor-turned-columnist Eliot Spitzer over at Slate talks about the report issued by Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky concerning why AIG's counterparties were paid 100 cents . . . more
There are a few articles in the Weekend Journal about the Bernard Madoff Ponzi pyramid scheme, in which Madoff allegedly duped investors out of some $50 billion. This one talks about Madoff's private nature and inscrutable "investing" strategy. This details the sad story of former Fort Lee, NJ mayor Burt Ross. This lists numerous other victims of Madoff's scam, including major names, hedge funds, companies, non-profits, and foreign investors.
It's incredible that this could happen. For all of these people - independent investors, fund managers, charity organizations - to blindly trust Madoff with billions in capital boggles the mind. It goes against the most basic of investment advice: Know what you're investing in. Diversify. It's a combination of greed, delusion - there had to be on some level - and "rolling with the good times" as Madoff brought in high, consistent returns of between 10-12% per year. Forget that these were ludicrous in a declining market, forget that monthly statements from Madoff Securities represented quite literally impossible profits. Investors basked in the ignorant comfort of those fat returns.
A lot of blame to go around beyond Madoff, of course. The SEC didn't investigate Madoff Securities for years until just recently despite evidence and entreaties to do so from several people. And how about these countless funds investing others' money in something that nobody understood? What a disaster.
