Nassim Taleb on responses to the credit crisis and the buildup of public debt

We are now in a situation in which a patient discovered he had cancer a year and a half ago and all we've been giving him is painkillers. The tumor is worse today, and it's getting worse because we're transforming private debt into public debt, and public debt is not manageable.

~ Nassim Taleb, NYU professor and author of The Black Swan, "Interview by Tom Keene," Bloomberg Markets, August 2010

Victor Hugo on the power of ideas

More powerful than armies is an idea whose time has come.

~ Victor Hugo

Michael Jordan on his All-time Dream Team

But if I had to pick a center, I would take [Hakeem] Olajuwon. That leaves out Shaq, Patrick Ewing. It leaves out Wilt Chamberlain. It leaves out a lot of people. And the reason I would take Olajuwon is very simple: he is so versatile because of what he can give you from that position. It's not just his scoring, not just his rebounding or not just his blocked shots. People don't realize he was in the top seven in steals. He always made great decisions on the court. For all facets of the game, I have to give it to him.

~ Michael Jordan, "One-on-One with Michael Jordan," Cigar Aficionado, September 1, 2005

Robert David Steele on the political entrepreneur class

I do believe there are secret societies, although, given a choice between conspiracy and incompetence, I generally go with incompetence. The Bilderberg Group, I just saw a list of who attended last time, it's almost a list of "nobodies" who want to be "somebodies" combined with "somebodies" on their way down. I'm not that impressed.

These people think they're the movers and the shakers; they're only the movers and the shakers so long as you let them be the movers and the shakers.

~Robert David Steele, former CIA officer, open-source intelligence advocate, YouTube presentation video, April 1st, 2010

Harris Kupperman on the centrally planned U.S. economy

You cannot manage an economy based on the applause meter of 24-hour news programs. You cannot manage an economy. Period. It is not debatable. Unfortunately, our government continues to corral the various market forces and lead them towards whatever myopic utopia politicians think will be needed for reelection. This creates economic anarchy. If you could run an economy based on erratic rules and crony capitalism, Argentina would be a world power. If you could print your way to prosperity, Zimbabwe would be a world banking hub. If you could command the economy to heed you, the USSR would still exist. I’m scared that world leaders have taken all the worst lessons of the last generation of economic thought and bundled them together into some sort of economic doomsday machine.

~ Harris Kupperman, Praetorian Capital, "The Macro Trumps All Else," AdventuresInCapitalism blog, July 2, 2010

Howard Davidowitz on Obama

He is Mr. Mass Destruction. I mean he is a human destroyer. This guy has spent his way into oblivion and we don't have a budget. He is surrounded by a bunch of complete incompetents, led by himself.


"US economy is a complete disaster", Yahoo Ticker, July 1, 2010

Kevin Duffy on the Goldman Sachs fraud trial

This trial is a diversionary tactic meant to place blame on capitalism and a few bad apples, while hiding the role of government and crony capitalism in creating the economic mess of 2008. The good Goldman is on trial, the company that in 2007 largely avoided the mistakes that sunk many of its competitors. The bad Goldman is not on trial, the company that was in deep trouble in 2008 and was rescued by the Fed and taxpayers thanks to friends in high places.

~ Kevin Duffy, Bearing Asset Management, "Bearing's Daring Duo," Reuters HedgeWorld, May 12, 2010