Why Not Ask Bernie Madoff To Testify About The Wall Street Meltdown On Capitol Hill
Read more articles on Finance and Politics and The Thoughts Of A Writer In New York City and Law and Legal Issues.November 24, 2009
Posted by neillevine
November 24, 2009
Posted by neillevine
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What better way to educate the public on what went wrong in the recent Wall Street meltdown than to have Bernard Madoff, the master of evaporating finances, to testify and offer his thoughts and insights into what went wrong and what could be done to correct the situation going forward. This is a chance to educate the public, elucidate issues and explain what went wrong. Why blow it?
Mr. Madoff, as is well known, had long experience on Wall Street and in finance. His investment fund handled billions of dollars of other people’s money. Allegedly, he was investing good money in stocks and other sound investments and offering reliable returns. His background and experience make Bernie Madoff not only an expert, but one of the top in his field, the art of diminishing returns, for what it is worth and, therefore, should make him a very desirable witness. He certainly should have insight into where the financial bodies are buried. He should understand what went wrong and what should not be done going forward. He should be able to explain how to protect investor’s money in the future. Why not give him a small chance to offer hope and redemption to the public eager for scape goats and explanations. His testimony, for what it’s worth certainly should attract attention and keep the public riveted for as long as it lasts. On the surface he appears well spoken and intelligent. Why not talk to him in public? What is the worst that could happen? He could plead the fifth or he could have something worthwhile to say on a very interesting subject. His testimony should be educational.
This is what should be offered on Wall Street and the world of high finance. Words to the wise and wisdom for the ages. Names and numbers would be helpful. However, in a world of fuzzy math you have to settle for what you can get and good explanations may not be amongst them. Excuses, alibis, lies and worse may be the order of the day for those paying attention.
Unfortunately, almost all of the money invested in supposedly sound investments disappeared under cloudy circumstances. For much of the investments that evaporating there was even insurance. Can you imagine. It seems good old Bernie was not making easy money on Wall Street by choosing good stocks. Instead he appears to have lost a couple of billion dollars and was taking in new money to pay off his old investors. Why not have him elucidate Members of Congress, other government officials and the public on what he did and what went wrong. This should be very educational, indeed.
There are many, many similarities with what Mr. Madoff did and the Wall Street meltdown. Good old Bernie handed out money as did the other firms that went belly up. They all took in money. The money vanished.
Regrettably, I believe there is more political involvement in the Wall Street meltdown, with the urge to hand out money and make friends just like Bernie Madoff did being greater than the duty to protect the public. All required by law and with little or no recourse to recovery to pay mounting bills as capital markets tanked. Just like Bernie.
But there are many differences, too.
No one asked perceptive questions. The answers were accepted at face value. No one seems to have checked basic facts. No one seems to have been paying attention.
Now is the time to clear this financial morass up. Why not offer clear facts and good ideas to the public to identify what went wrong, what can be corrected and how to prevent such an economic meltdown in the future. Why not demand proof for whatever it is that is supposed to be going on and wasn’t really. Going over all the faux pas in detail should offer many opportunities to analyze and generate ideas to prevent such tragedies from ever occurring again.
This would I hope be in everyone’s interest, from the titans of Wall Street to the small investor to even the exalted mucky mucks sitting in the august halls of Congress.
I can cite a comparable situation during the Great Depression when the mighty J. P. Morgan, Jr., familiarly known as Jack, actually the son of the Great J. P. Morgan, Sr., the man who saved Wall Street, but a financial titan in his own right, had to come on down to Capitol Hill and testify before Huey Long, who, as was his wont, was trying to impress Dewey and Louie with his ideas of economic equality and fairness and managed to box up and create a lot of political hoopla for those who blamed financiers, especially rich Jewish investors for the woes of the world at the time. It should be pointed out that the Morgans were WASPs, but that did not matter to those Huey was playing to. Jack Morgan was also too polite, too dignified and too submissive and not talkative enough to counter Huey’s phooey, explaining why he folded for the investigation.
It should also be noted the same Huey Long left his family sitting pretty with long term oil investments, but this is another story.
So anyway why not educate the public. Have good old Bernie offer ideas, insights, suggestions and ask pertinent questions, all in the public interest.
This is aside from the problems rising interest rates and other federal initiatives such as the ballooning budget deficit have caused.
Why not educate the public. It should be in the public interest. I, for one, believe ideas and insights are very valuable and here is one big golden opportunity that should not be passed up.
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