“If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose- because it contains all the others- the fact that they were the people who created the phrase to make money. No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity- to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created.” – Ayn Rand
I read this week that the victims of supervillains Bernie Madoff and R. Allen Stanford have joined forces to lobby congress to compensate them for their losses. There are few people I have less sympathy for than the wealthy victims of a Ponzi scheme. These are not people whose homes were destroyed in a flood. They are not women whose husbands have died unexpectedly, leaving them widowed and poor. Rather, they willingly gave their money to a crook who duped them into believing he could do what anyone with a basic understanding of the stock market knows is a mathematical impossibility. With consistent annual returns of 10-12%, why bother with a savings? Whether or not they were greedy, they participated in something called the market. And as sure as day becomes night, the market rises and falls. The victims knew this. When it all came tumbling down, I’m sure it was a tough pill to swallow. Continue reading