and I hereby admit it. I always assumed that Paul Krugman (NY Times Op-Ed Columnist) was a wacko leftist radical whose opinions were fun to laugh at but hardly ever to be taken seriously. Then I read this. Folks, the man is making some sense here. Madoff is clearly the worst kind of financial scumbag– he deserves hard labor in a rock quarry where all the people he ripped off get to come throw rocks at him. Yet, it’s hard to rebutt Krugman’s argument that large sections of the financial industry deserve, in some sense, the same fate. Here’s the point I am honing in on– they all claimed to know what they were doing. For this, they assure us, they were worth millions in fees and bonuses. OK. Do we (average Americans) now deserve a refund? If not, why not??
There is risk in every endeavor. There is risk, in fact, in doing nothing, because we don’t get to earn a paycheck in gold, but in dollars which constantly lose value. Nevertheless, no one can convince me that the standard disclaimers that I’ve read (many of) before investing in the market properly covered and warned me about what has happened in the last 6 months. This was not market risk; this was being lied to and s*****d (painful activity involving bending over). Sadly, the politicans who enabled and rejoiced in this ripoff are still in Congress, and still in charge. Specifically, they are still running the rotten heaps known as Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. In most cases, their party affiliation starts with a D.
And then there’s our new president.
Mr. Krugman is indeed a wacko leftist radical whose ideas deserve little respect. However, on this one, I think he is making an excellent point.
Make more excellent points, Mr. K– we will soon need all we can get.