Links: 2010-05-15 Gordon Gekko at Cannes and the carry trade unwind

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On so-called bureaucrats in Washington and the morality of capitalism

Every time I hear the word ‘bureaucrat’ used to make a point for or against government’s role in the economy, I cringe. I see this label as unfair and dehumanizing. I grew up in Washington , D.C. where my parents and their friends rose through the ranks of government, often to the very managerial positions

Did Gordon Gekko inspire Wall Street or the other way around?

This contribution from Daniel Berger is a letter to Michael Smerconish in response to a commentary Smerconish wrote on 10 May 2009 in the Philadelphia Inquirer “Head Strong: Did Hollywood inspire the meltdown men?” A shorter version of Berger’s piece appeared at New Deal 2.0 in July. Given my recent two posts on greed (“More

More on greed, regulation, Lehman and the financial industry

In one of my latest posts I said “greed is not good.” Quite frankly, I looked at this statement as self-evident in the wake of an economic catastrophe where greed was a defining element. Yet, a remarkable number of people commented in defense of greed; they seem to believe greed is a good thing. So,

Greed is not good

In the 1987 movie classic Wall Street, the sinister protagonist Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas gives this famous quote:

In the last seven deals that I’ve been involved with, there were 2.5 million stockholders who have made a pretax profit of 12 billion dollars. Thank you. I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them! The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.

Since that time, this quote has become famous as the “Greed is Good” philosophy of capitalism

Quote of the day: Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko

Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan have been the worst monetary stewards in U.S. Federal Reserve history. A former Fed Chairman William McChesney Martin Jr. once said it was the Fed’s job “to take away the punch bowl just as the party gets going.” Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, with their easy money polices, failed to

Quote of the day: Gordon Gekko – greed is good

With blood on the street and one flagging financial institution after another gasping for dear life, a quote from the Movie “Wall Street” bears remembering: In the last seven deals that I’ve been involved with, there were 2.5 million stockholders who have made a pretax profit of 12 billion dollars. Thank you. I am not