Saturday, November 14, 2009

At the Pinnacle of Capitalism, No Bad Deed Goes Unrewarded

This is rich. John Paulson who made billions betting against the subprime mortgages is now rewarding Alan Greenspan, who did so much to make it happen.

Anon. 2009. "Overheard." Wall Street Journal (13 November): p. C 14.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703811604574532093404390218.html
John Paulson already has hired Alan Greenspan as an adviser. Now the hedge-fund honcho is giving $20 million to business school NYU Stern to endow two faculty chairs, including the Alan Greenspan Chair in Economics. Mr. Paulson, who made billions betting against subprime mortgages when the credit bubble burst, and the former Fed chairman are NYU graduates. One subject worth studying? The dangers inherent in keeping interest rates too low for too long.

3 comments:

Shag from Brookline said...

"... the Alan Greenspan Chair in Economics ...."

is actually a two-legged stool.

Ken Houghton said...

What's the other leg: "move interest rates with your portfolio" and "fellate Bush and Cheney on election or pay the consequences" were the same leg, weren't they?

(One could also fairly ask why this would surprise anyone other than an economist, but it is clearly posted as a signpost, not a surprise.)

Btw, fairly certain the first comment (from "nice") is spam.

Myrtle Blackwood said...

'John' Paulson. Any relation to Hank Paulson??

Hank Paulson on the blogosphere:

Hank Paulson was a star in that world. When he left as chief executive to become Treasury Secretary in 2006, Goldman awarded him $110 million in cash to cover remaining stock options and restricted stock, in addition to $51 million to repurchase family shares. These payments were on top of the approximately $500 million in Goldman shares Paulson sold when he joined the government.

Posted by: Ugly American | September 27, 2008 at 03:54 PM

Good article, insightful comment as also. Always good to hear from our friends in the U.K.
I'll get to the point. Anyone remember the 1995 $500
Billion bailout? (it almost identical).
Well, Henry Paulson was the architect of THAT little nightmare also. ( he was CEO of Goldman-Sachs from 2000-2006. He then somehow landed this job...Hmmm.
Again, his conditions are "no oversight, reviews and NO legal charges for any of his cronies!
Moreover, this was the "Keating 5" Scandal".....of the 5 senators who were caught.....yep, John Mcain. How curious Instead of a bailout, I hope they just get bail, heh.

Posted by: Jean-Claude | September 27, 2008 at 07:26 PM

I would also suggest this is a part of the "globalization" agenda.... I saw it today for the first time in a news article quoting Paulson, as a cure for what is ailing us. Also remember Paulson wants to use the money to bail out foreign banks as well.