Bernie Madoff: American Deception
Bernie Madoff: American Deception
“The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.
Yet surely I’m not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Mr. Madoff’s tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?”
No, Mr. Krugman, you are not the only person who asks this question. I have too. And, I believe, so should everyone.
Krugman then goes on to cite some striking statistics supporting the notion that the financial services industry has gotten rich while the people that hired and trusted them haven’t. This data and other information suggests that the financial services industry, rather than protecting the very investors that made them rich, have only destroyed the value of their portfolios. Some examples that support this concept from Krugman’s op-ed:
“Last year, the average salary of employees in “securities, commodity contracts, and investments” was more than four times the average salary in the rest of the economy. Earning a million dollars was nothing special and even incomes of $20 million or more were fairly common.”
“In recent years the finance sector accounted for 8 percent of America’s G.D.P., up from less than 5 percent a generation earlier. If that extra 3 percent was money for nothing — and it probably was — we’re talking about $400 billion a year in waste, fraud and abuse.”
There is an old joke, “Your investment specialist is interested in retirement planning. The problem is that it is his own, not yours.” Now, we know this bitter statement rings more true than we thought. Perhaps it isn’t a joke?
Bernie Madoff American Deception - To learn more about this author, visit Shirley Mueller's Website.
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In the NYT Op Ed entitled, “The Madoff Economy,” Friday, December 19, 2008 Nobel Prize winning Paul Krugman starts his with these paragraphs:
“The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.
Yet surely I’m not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Mr. Madoff’s tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?”
No, Mr. Krugman, you are not the only person who asks this question. I have too. And, I believe, so should everyone.
Krugman then goes on to cite some striking statistics supporting the notion that the financial services industry has gotten rich while the people that hired and trusted them haven’t. This data and other information suggests that the financial services industry, rather than protecting the very investors that made them rich, have only destroyed the value of their portfolios. Some examples that support this concept from Krugman’s op-ed:
“Last year, the average salary of employees in “securities, commodity contracts, and investments” was more than four times the average salary in the rest of the economy. Earning a million dollars was nothing special and even incomes of $20 million or more were fairly common.”
“In recent years the finance sector accounted for 8 percent of America’s G.D.P., up from less than 5 percent a generation earlier. If that extra 3 percent was money for nothing — and it probably was — we’re talking about $400 billion a year in waste, fraud and abuse.”
There is an old joke, “Your investment specialist is interested in retirement planning. The problem is that it is his own, not yours.” Now, we know this bitter statement rings more true than we thought. Perhaps it isn’t a joke?
Bernie Madoff American Deception - To learn more about this author, visit Shirley Mueller's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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