This article was adapted from “The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust,” by Diana B. Henriques, a reporter for The New York Times. The book, to be published on Tuesday by Times Books, analyzes Mr. Madoff’s rise and fall.

The paperwork has been completed for a $9 million unsecured loan from his company to Peter Madoff, whose titles at the firm now include senior managing director, chief compliance officer, head of the options department and — since a few years ago — chief compliance officer for the private money management business that Bernie runs on the 17th floor of the distinctive oval office tower known as the Lipstick Building in Midtown Manhattan.

Still, the Madoff firm is casual about titles — Bernie almost seems to make them up as he goes along. Peter’s primary title has always been “Bernie’s brother.” And this latest loan, to finance a real estate investment, reflects this reality.

At most big firms these days, an executive’s request for a $9 million insider loan with a gentle interest rate would be coldly and firmly denied as inappropriate. Despite growing worries in the financial markets, longtime employees of Bernie Madoff’s firm have no trouble borrowing cash when they need it. Bernie rarely says no.

But this loan to Peter — like all the insider loans that have come before and that will follow in succeeding months — is sucking out cash that Bernie Madoff will need when the turmoil bearing down on Wall Street finally hits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/business/24excerpt.html?hp

 

Fed-watchers may recall that in my last post, I courageously risked my membership in the Ben Bernanke Fan Club by asking the chairman why he had failed to juice the economy enough to avoid sky-high unemployment. The boring answer, I suspect, is that he’s skeptical additional monetary stimulus would help create many jobs, although I don’t expect him to put it quite that starkly at his first-ever press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

But I also promised a follow-up question, and it might even interest normal people who pay no attention to the Fed: Mr. Chairman, if the Fed is done with monetary stimulus, do we need Congress to inject more fiscal stimulus?

If so, why haven’t you pushed for it? And why haven’t you pushed back against the current mania for short-term budget cuts that could slow recovery at the margins?

On the other hand, if you don’t think we need more monetary stimulus or more fiscal stimulus, and you still think unemployment is our biggest problem, are we just screwed?  Are the unemployed on their own?

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/04/26/if-the-fed-cant-save-us-then-who-can/#ixzz1KlgQknNY

The economies that account for 96 per cent of the world economy are today running loose money policies. Most are happily handing out free money. Some are supplying money at rates so low that it's actually cheaper than free.

It's done for good cause. When money is cheap, people are more inclined to invest or spend. So it aids economic recovery. The former chief of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, was named as Time magazine's person of the year in 1999 for his ready resort to loose money.

But if there is too much for too long, it ends badly. Exactly a decade later, Time named Greenspan as No. 3 on its list of "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis". And I think they let him off lightly.

The evidence of the past three decades should be enough, but you can go back further. In fact, every major financial crisis in the four centuries of capitalism has had its origins in loose money.

How does it work? It's simple commonsense. The basis for value is scarcity. If scarcity is destroyed, so is value. And when money loses its value, it is abused.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/how-funny-money-takes-our-mickey-20110509-1efp0.html#ixzz1Lte7wXZA
see toon at top...

Underwear which once belonged to jailed fraudster Bernard Madoff have been sold for $200 (£120) as part of an auction of items confiscated from his mansion.

The event also saw the sale of furniture and household goods, shoes, golf clubs and art, US media report.

Organised by the US Marshals Service, the $400,000 raised will go towards victims of Madoff's $65bn fraud.

Madoff is serving a 150-year jail sentence after being convicted in 2009.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13665904

As "our mate" Alan Jones would say, that's about 0.000006 cent per dollar towards the debt...

Glorious... Would look better in a laundry museum... see toon at top...

The House of Representatives has approved a deal to allow the US to borrow more money, days before the world's biggest economy is due to start defaulting on its debt.

The measure easily passed the chamber by a vote of 314-117, despite some defections on both sides of the aisle.

The Senate must vote on the bill later this week before President Joe Biden can sign it into law.

The government is forecast to hit its borrowing limit on Monday 5 June.

 READ MORE:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65771669  READ FROM TOP. HERE COMES THE 40 TRILLION DEBT... THEN THE 54 TRILLION DEBT.....  FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW.................

That has left little margin for error as lawmakers race to avoid the US defaulting on its $31.4tn (£25tn) debt, which underpins the global financial system.

A default would mean the government could not borrow any more money or pay all of its bills. It would also threaten to wreak havoc on the global economy, affecting prices and mortgage rates in other countries.