Greed is not Good

Eventually the merry go round stops. Like peace turns into war, good times turn into bad times. It is not that humanity does not like too much of a good thing; we do not get bored with peace and prosperity. Our peace is a false peace and our prosperity illusional. Eventually truth will out.

Predicting the economic future

There were three of us, in a small town in the very middle of Europe. One man was a financial adviser. The second man was an entrepreneur. I was the third person. We were on our way to lunch under clear but cloudy bright skies. The clouds were interesting in their formation. Perhaps we could predict the weather.

Shorting which short changes the economy

Shakespeare wrote “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall”. In the modern economic context it would be appropriate to change this to “some profit by sin and some by virtue become impoverished”. It would do well for our politicians to understand this, particularly in understanding some practices of banking.

How you pay for the greed of others

Some years ago I wrote about the true life of slippery Syd Gottfried, who was a master con man. I tried not to glamorise Syd’s escapades in my book; there is nothing glamorous about cheating people. I did find the process interesting and revealing, and from time to time entertaining as well.

I did learn, from talking to Syd extensively two things. First, there is a fine but very blurred line between what is legitimate in business and what is illegal. Secondly, it is not so much the trusting people who are liable to be conned, but the greedy people. The chief device of all con men is to prey on greed, which exists in many people as the force that drives them and in likewise in many companies. It therefore comes as no surprise that some of the world’s largest banks and hedge funds have been apparently conned out of $50 million.

Brilliant minds and the problems of the world

David King, who was the Chief Government Scientist has suggested that the best minds be employed in solving the major problems of the earth, which he regards as climate change, energy production, starvation, poverty and disease. You cannot really quibble with his assessment of the problems that we face, although perhaps in the short term people are more concerned with the effects of the economy slipping into recession, I think that most people understand that the big problems which threaten all of us in the long term, are those identified by Mr King.