Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Money managers, the myth of the free market and fluid identity

I've been calm so far, but this is straining my gasket.
Op-Ed Contributor - Why the Fed Can’t Let A.I.G. Go Under - Lewitt - NYTimes.com:

... The Fed cannot afford to stand on principle. The myth of free markets ended with the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Actually, it ended with their creation....

Michael Lewitt is the president of a money management firm.
Ok, maybe Michael Lewitt said the same thing when he was on top of the world. Ok, maybe Lewitt never supported the GOP and their religion of the "free" market as pseudo-darwinian deity and definter of good and evil.

But what about those Lehman Bros bankers overheard on NPR bemoaning the lack of a federal bailout?

This is tweaking one of my persistent personality oddities, though it's a shadow of its former self. I still get annoyed by the astounding ability of many (successful) humans to change their fundamental principles at the drop of a hat.

It wouldn't bother me so much if they were simply Machiavellian manipulators, slyly saying whatever it takes to advance their personal agenda. That, at least, I can understand. I dislike these people, but I appreciate their artistic evil. Non-smoking tobacco company executives fall into this group.

No, what bugs me more are people who effortlessly adapt their "core" principles to server their current interests. There adaptability threatens my mental model of what a person is.

That bugs me.

PS. I'm not saying the Feds shouldn't try to salvage the world economy, but I recognize shareholders like me ought to take it in the gut. Of course I'd also like the CEOs to walk the plank, but I'm not delusional. That won't happen. I do think Bush's bankrupting the US will eventually be recognized as a part of the problem, but I also think we're going to discover there are significant issues with the basic shareholder mechanism of funding companies.

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