None of the financial experts, pundits, and advisors saw the current economic meltdown coming. Why? Nobody (with the exception of a guy in MA named Markopolos) realized the Madoff's fund was a Ponzi scheme so large that they should now change the name of the scam to the Madoff scheme. Why?
Isn't uncovering and warning us about these potential financial WMDs the job of the financial news networks and reporters? Or are they just cheerleaders for corporations and advertisers ...as per Jon Steward's hilariously funny and extremely pointed recent rant on Comedy Central? Steward's new material may be the only bright spot to come out of the recent economic disaster.
Jon took to task the entire CNBC crew with special attention paid to Rick Santelli and Jim Cramer. We often hear investors (ordinary or otherwise) should always "do their own due diligence before investing." Steward's point was, and we totally agree, that if CNBC, CNNMoney, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, or any of the dozens of financial information sources were blind to the signs of both the mortgage crisis and a multi-decade Ponzi scam, what makes "Joe or Jane investor" think he/she have ANY HOPE of doing better in avoiding scammerss such as Madoff or Stanford?
We want to invest in good companies and businesses because it is still the best means to making our money work for us while we nap. Oversight, regulations, and punishments will always be needed to keep the things in check. However, the most important protection we have is a free and independent press that actually does it job. We like funny and we like money, just not funny money. [Permalink]- Due Diligence
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