The Immortal

There are now some articles which are detailing the other Ponzi schemes which are coming out in the wake of l'affaire Madoff. One thing that is notable: the next biggest scam is an order of magnitude less significant. That is, while Bernie Madoff's scam was on the scale of billions, the next ones in the rank order are on the scale of hundreds of millions. If you haven't read The New York Times's piece which speculates on the psychological roots of Bernie Madoff's skill at extracting money from the wealthy, you should read it. It's nothing surprising, most people I've discussed the details of Bernie's modus operandi immediately assume some sort of sociopathy. I would note though that sometimes there is a fine line between salesman and con-artist. In modern America the distinction seems obvious, but in a world of haggling and caveat emptor these were two faces of the same coin. Additionally, a commonly quoted number for the compensation forms sent to those conned by Bernie are 8,000. But this doesn't include everyone who was screwed by the funds-of-funds. It seems that Bernie Madoff will be a name that will echo down the generations, because thousands of families have likely lost their perches in the upper class because of this fiasco. There will be children later this century who might be told that but for Bernie Madoff they would have been American aristocracy (though to be fair, many will not be told that because of Bernie Madoff many of their forebears became American aristocracy)....

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Megan McArdle notes: The scale of Bernie Madoff's crimes has largely eclipsed the more interesting scam that broke around the same time: the antics of Mark Dreier, who bilked institutional investors for millions with faked securities. What we know about Madoff suggests that he may have become an…
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Last year Tom Petters in Minneapolis briefly was champ with a $3 billion scheme. Fame is fleeting. He'll never get the credit he deserves.

By John Emerson (not verified) on 28 Jan 2009 #permalink

... the next biggest scam is an order of magnitude less significant.

While Madoff's mischief was an order of magnitude below that of Henry Paulson's plain-view prestidigitation in the public purse, for some reason deemed by most media mavens an order of mag less interesting than Uncle Bernie's manipulations.

By Pierce R. Butler (not verified) on 28 Jan 2009 #permalink

While Madoff's mischief was an order of magnitude below that of Henry Paulson's plain-view prestidigitation in the public purse, for some reason deemed by most media mavens an order of mag less interesting than Uncle Bernie's manipulations.

evil in the name of gov. is no evil at all. ;-)

Has anyone not realized that many of the hoodwinked in this particular scam were extraordinarily well off to begin with? Verily, this is nothing more than the greedy, who want everything but yet everything with no expenditure of effort, being burned by someone of the exact same decoration.

Burn baby, burn...

By Paul Rizzo (not verified) on 29 Jan 2009 #permalink

thousands of families have likely lost their perches in the upper class because of this fiasco.

Really? Any evidence of this? If a very rich person loses, say, half his wealth, he's generally still pretty wealthy. Maybe it hasn't really trickled through the system yet but I don't know of anyone who's been destroyed by Madoff, they just lost a lot of money. Ironically it's the middle class non-profit types who seem to be taking the brunt of the fall out, at least anecdotally, as they are all losing their jobs as funds for charity dry up.

Maybe it hasn't really trickled through the system yet but I don't know of anyone who's been destroyed by Madoff

you shouldn't talk about things you don't know of.

Serious problems in finance trickle down at least as fast as prosperity does. If I could wave a magic wand and bankrupt the richest 1% without hurting anyone else, I'd probably do it, but beyond the lack of a magic wand, any event of that kind would disrupt the whole economy and hurt lots of people.

By John Emerson (not verified) on 29 Jan 2009 #permalink

The whole economy is turning into a giant Ponzi scheme. It started with Social Security, moved on to endless credit by all parties, and now has been confirmed with the Obama "Stimulus" Package.

Hey folks, grab what you can and make someone else pay the bill!

It started with Social Security

i think this is a pretty stupid talking point, though i get where it comes from. OTOH, can't argue much with the rest or the general point....

My favorite Ponzi scheme is ant-farming.

By Douglas Knight (not verified) on 29 Jan 2009 #permalink

This story about the effect of Madoff on Brandeis University is interesting.

First thread I've come across where we common shlubs aren't crying our eyes out over the poor billionaires who lost a few hundred million. Thank you for the refreshing moment of sanity.

To take it a step further, I view Madoff as a non-intentional hero. Western civilization's aristocratic plutocracy SHOULD be destroyed. If I could wave a magic wand that would allow no man to leave more than half a million in money or assets to any of his children then I would do it. Lacking such a wand I can only applaud the piker who, yet, has done better than anyone else in unburdening the wealthy of a few specs of their fortune.

Thank you Bernie.