Comments on: Pithy Quotes for 2008 Bailouts? http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/ Macro Perspective on the Capital Markets, Economy, Geopolitics, Technology, and Digital Media Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:32:28 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: jc http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-129731 jc Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:36:12 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-129731 For Whom the Bailout Tolls. It tolls for thee, American taxpayer. CITI invests $10 billion is Spanish toll roads after getting $45 billion cash and a bad loan guarantee that could cost taxpayers another $250 billion and a week later they have $10 billion available for Spanish toll roads. We get the government we deserve. For Whom the Bailout Tolls. It tolls for thee, American taxpayer.

CITI invests $10 billion is Spanish toll roads after getting $45 billion cash and a bad loan guarantee that could cost taxpayers another $250 billion and a week later they have $10 billion available for Spanish toll roads.

We get the government we deserve.

]]> By: ashallen http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-129652 ashallen Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:03:33 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-129652 Henry Ford said on February 11, 1934: “Let them fail; let everybody fail! I made my fortune when I had nothing to start with, by myself and my own ideas. Let other people do the same thing. If I lose everything in the collapse of our financial structure, I will start in at the beginning and build it up again.” I think this quote nicely captures at least some of the sentiments that we're struggling with today: real repercussions, accountability, and the notion that it is our capacity as Americans to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps that makes us great as individuals and as a country. Note, there is some disagreement on the exact quote. This is the source that I took the quote from: http://www.iamfrankstallone.com/?p=56 Henry Ford said on February 11, 1934: “Let them fail; let everybody fail! I made my fortune when I had nothing to start with, by myself and my own ideas. Let other people do the same thing. If I lose everything in the collapse of our financial structure, I will start in at the beginning and build it up again.”

I think this quote nicely captures at least some of the sentiments that we’re struggling with today: real repercussions, accountability, and the notion that it is our capacity as Americans to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps that makes us great as individuals and as a country.

Note, there is some disagreement on the exact quote. This is the source that I took the quote from: http://www.iamfrankstallone.com/?p=56

]]> By: saunderscc http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-129444 saunderscc Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:40:46 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-129444 "If a random bolt of lightning hits you when you're standing in the middle of the field--that feels like a random event. But if your business is to stand in random fields during lightning storms, then you should anticipate, perhaps a little more robustly, the risks you're taking on." --Peter Fisher speaking about LTCM on Nova's Trillion Dollar Bet. Perhaps my favorite quote of all time and and applicable to several chapters. “If a random bolt of lightning hits you when you’re standing in the middle of the field–that feels like a random event. But if your business is to stand in random fields during lightning storms, then you should anticipate, perhaps a little more robustly, the risks you’re taking on.”

–Peter Fisher speaking about LTCM on Nova’s Trillion Dollar Bet.

Perhaps my favorite quote of all time and and applicable to several chapters.

]]> By: bubbles http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-129076 bubbles Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:26:55 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-129076 Don't know who said this about the bailouts, but thought it was great: "They are using the lifeboats to save the rats!" Don’t know who said this about the bailouts, but thought it was great:

“They are using the lifeboats to save the rats!”

]]> By: Soylent Green Is People http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-129060 Soylent Green Is People Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:29:07 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-129060 To the lot: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany. We must be cautious. To the lot:

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany. We must be cautious.

]]> By: cityhall http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-129055 cityhall Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:04:41 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-129055 "Stop being such a jerk." Jamie Dimon to Vikram Pandit on the JPM/Bear conference call. “Stop being such a jerk.” Jamie Dimon to Vikram Pandit on the JPM/Bear conference call.

]]> By: Marcus http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-128973 Marcus Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:51:39 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-128973 1. Bear Stearns
 "Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest." Benjamin Franklin 2. Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac
 "No evil is without its compensation." Seneca 3. AIG "Gentleman-rankers out on the spree, damned from here to Eternity." Rudyard Kipling 
4. Detroit / GM loans
 Quotes from Henry Ford (http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/559/Henry-Ford-Quotes.html). We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's dam is the history we make today. There is no such thing as no chance. Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one. You can't learn in school what the world is going to do next year. This quote is attributed to Henry Ford II Never complain. Never explain. 
5. Home Owners Assistance “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.? US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart 
6. TARP
 "I don't try to describe the future. I try to prevent it." Ray Bradbury 
7. Lehman Brothers (the non bailout) "I can't believe that God plays dice with the universe." Albert Einstein 
8. Citigroup ($25 + 20 + 306 billion)
"There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use." Mother Teresa 9. Whoever is next "It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it's one damn thing over and over." Edna St. Vincent Millay 10. Whoever I forgot "He who hesitates is a damned fool." Mae West 1. Bear Stearns
 “Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don’t have brains enough to be honest.” Benjamin Franklin
2. Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac
 “No evil is without its compensation.” Seneca
3. AIG “Gentleman-rankers out on the spree, damned from here to Eternity.” Rudyard Kipling

4. Detroit / GM loans

Quotes from Henry Ford (http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/559/Henry-Ford-Quotes.html).

We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s dam is the history we make today.

There is no such thing as no chance. Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.

A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one.

You can’t learn in school what the world is going to do next year.

This quote is attributed to Henry Ford II
Never complain. Never explain.

5. Home Owners Assistance “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.? US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

6. TARP
 “I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.” Ray Bradbury

7. Lehman Brothers (the non bailout) “I can’t believe that God plays dice with the universe.” Albert Einstein

8. Citigroup ($25 + 20 + 306 billion)
”There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use.” Mother Teresa
9. Whoever is next “It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it’s one damn thing over and over.” Edna St. Vincent Millay
10. Whoever I forgot “He who hesitates is a damned fool.” Mae West

]]> By: elwin9 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-128970 elwin9 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:34:17 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-128970 Re Fannie & Freddie: Rep. Barnie Frank: I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision]. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing. And: Rep. Frank: I believe there has been more alarm raised about potential unsafety and unsoundness than, in fact, exists. Re Fannie & Freddie:

Rep. Barnie Frank: I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision]. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.

And:

Rep. Frank: I believe there has been more alarm raised about potential unsafety and unsoundness than, in fact, exists.

]]> By: Rooster http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-128967 Rooster Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:27:01 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-128967 My personal favourite is: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Joseph Goebbels But you can also choose from any of these" 1.Bear Stearns 2. Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac 3. AIG "The first law of holes: When you're in a hole, you have to stop digging" Benjamin Franklin 4. Detroit / GM loans "Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty. " Henry Ford 5. Home Owners Assistance "A government can allow itself one year of spending above its means. Same for a household. But you and I both know that making it a habit leads straight to the soup kitchens" Franklin Roosevelt 6. TARP “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.” Groucho Marx 7. Lehman Brothers (the non bailout) "A good banker, unfortunately, is not someone who anticipates danger and avoids it. He is rather a person who ruins himself and all his colleagues in an orthodox and conventional way, by not admitting that he is at fault" John Maynard Keynes 8. Citigroup ($25 + 20 + 306 billion) 9. Whoever is next "Every time I make a bad decision, I carry on and make another" Harry S Truman 10. Whoever I forgot My personal favourite is:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Joseph Goebbels

But you can also choose from any of these”
1.Bear Stearns
2. Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac
3. AIG
“The first law of holes: When you’re in a hole, you have to stop digging” Benjamin Franklin
4. Detroit / GM loans
“Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty. ” Henry Ford
5. Home Owners Assistance
“A government can allow itself one year of spending above its means. Same for a household. But you and I both know that making it a habit leads straight to the soup kitchens” Franklin Roosevelt
6. TARP
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.” Groucho Marx
7. Lehman Brothers (the non bailout)
“A good banker, unfortunately, is not someone who anticipates danger and avoids it. He is rather a person who ruins himself and all his colleagues in an orthodox and conventional way, by not admitting that he is at fault” John Maynard Keynes
8. Citigroup ($25 + 20 + 306 billion)
9. Whoever is next
“Every time I make a bad decision, I carry on and make another” Harry S Truman

10. Whoever I forgot

]]> By: nikhilverma http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/pithy-quotes-for-2008-bailouts/comment-page-4/#comment-128960 nikhilverma Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:15:06 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=10825#comment-128960 For Bear Stearns: "Mr. Greenberg, if you study bridge the rest of your life, if you play with the best partners and you achieve your potential, you will never play bridge like I play bridge." Jimmy Cayne to Alan (Ace) Greenberg during Cayne's interview in 1969 and as quoted in Fortune article The Rise and Fall of Jimmy Cayne (by William D. Cohan, Pg. 92-104, August 18, 2008) For Bear Stearns:

“Mr. Greenberg, if you study bridge the rest of your life, if you play with the best partners and you achieve your potential, you will never play bridge like I play bridge.”
Jimmy Cayne to Alan (Ace) Greenberg during Cayne’s interview in 1969 and as quoted in Fortune article The Rise and Fall of Jimmy Cayne (by William D. Cohan, Pg. 92-104, August 18, 2008)

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