Senator Paul Tsongas on Japan Inc. (1992)

The Cold War is over, and Japan won. 

~ Sen. Paul Tsongas, 1992

Jim Cramer on gambling in worthless stocks

Do you hold your nose and buy ABK because of those rallies? I believe, oddly, yes. Now, there is simply no percentage in admitting you would ever recommend a worthless security. But this is a game of performance, not a game of valuation. There are plenty of genuinely worthless stocks that have gone up huge. There are tons of cases where gigantically worthless stocks -- almost every dotcom circa 1999-2000 -- gave you great returns.

~ Jim Cramer, thestreet.com, April 13, 2010

T. Boone Pickens: $95 oil by end of 2010

You'll be at $95 a barrel at the end of the year.

~ T. Boone Pickens, as appeared on CNBC, April 14, 2010

(Crude oil at $85/bbl.)

Ned Riley: Dow 14,000 (2010)

I still think stocks are going much higher. I've set a target of 14,000 on the Dow before we have to worry about different things... I really think that people are frightened, they are on the sidelines. Joe [Battapaglia] is right, the consumer isn't really bouncing along, and that's my second phase of economic recovery. That'll be the area which will eventually bring us enough revenue to kick profits even higher.

~ Ned Riley, as appeared on CNBC, April 9, 2010

Kevin Duffy on the recently passed Health Care Bill

There is no "solution," no magic bullet, no utopia [to health care]. There are moral arguments and practical arguments. In my mind the moral is always superior - the ends don't justify the means. The goods news is that there is a natural order to the world. There is vastly more good than evil; otherwise, no one would ride the subway or travel on a plane. Evil means leads to scarcity and chaos; moral means leads to harmony and abundance.

Look at all the failed socialist experiments from the Soviet economy to the U.S. public education system - all based on coercion and all miserable failures. Now look at the freest parts of the economy: technology, consumer electronics, retail, entertainment, etc. We get constantly improving quality at lower prices. Look at the cost of cell phones over the past 10 years, or the cost of a cashmere sweater.

Health care is a classic example of how government intervention is gumming up the works. Despite that, there have been incredible medical advances. Can you imagine how much further this relatively immature industry would be without all the impediments to innovation?

I remember what it was like to go to the doctor's office as a kid - I hated it. It wasn't because of needles, plastic gloves, or worse; it was because of long waits. Yet when my mom took me to get an ice cream cone the lines were short and the service friendly. Of course the doctor visits have only gotten worse (and more expensive) precisely because the government has been involved. A complete takeover can only create worse service, more scarcity (as people leave this sector in droves), and soaring costs in an economy struggling under the weight of heavy-handed government. The solution, of course, will be rationing. How will you like your life to be in the hands of a $20,000 a year bureaucrat with a sociology degree? Welcome to Ted Kennedy's vision for Amerika.

~ Kevin Duffy, Facebook post, March 23, 2010

Senator Bill Bradley on Social Security

Social Security is the best legislation the government's ever passed. It's a compact between generations.

~ Senator Bill Bradley, as appeared on CNN's "I.O.U.S.A.: Solution---America's Debt Crisis," April 10, 2010

Leon Cooperman on the stock market

The market is very rationally priced in my opinion.

~ Leon Cooperman, investor, as appeared on CNBC, April 6, 2010