Another superb article from vanity fair. There was another one a week or so ago about a former sniper in Afghanistan.
Reading this reminded me of when I read about Jeff Greene about a year ago - another guy who made a mint from the housing/mortgage bubble collapse. See:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1006/266.html
I love these types of stories - an 'outcast' who spots a trend and is either ignored or heavily critised for their point of view, but ultimately proved right and met with a deafening slience.
It echoes a now infamous incident that happened in Ireland in 2007, when we were at the height of our own property boom. The then Prime Minister (or Taoiseach) Bertie Ahern, said that "that he did not know how people who engaged in moaning about the economy did not commit suicide".
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0704/economy.html
Since then, Bertie has left his office in controversial circumstances over alleged corruption, and those who his remarks have been aimed at, such as courageous economists David McWilliams and George Lee, are held up as visionaries who warned about the dangers of excess when everyone else was gorging at the trough. As a result, the Irish taxpayer is to become the single largest owner of real estate in the WORLD, to the tune of €55bn ($75bn), because of the generous nature of the Irish Government bailout of the greedy Irish banks. This is in a country of just 4.5m people, which makes it all the more staggering. The Irish Government has bet the future of our country on the recovery of the Irish real estate market, and the youngest generation currently will end up paying for this stupidity over the next 50 years.
p.s. For all those who reckon it's morally wrong to make a fortune from a slump or crash, how is that different from making money in the good times? People are always borrowing foolishly (when the banks allow them to) and get into trouble even when the economy is doing ok. It's just these stories dont receive a mention when the media, along with everyone else, gets caught up reporting how fabulously brilliant we all are when times are good.
Not that Vanity Fair doesn't have high standards, but the author of the article(actually a chapter of his new book) was Michael Lewis, who is quite a good writer by himself. :)
Comments
Another superb article from vanity fair. There was another one a week or so ago about a former sniper in Afghanistan.
Reading this reminded me of when I read about Jeff Greene about a year ago - another guy who made a mint from the housing/mortgage bubble collapse. See: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1006/266.html
I love these types of stories - an 'outcast' who spots a trend and is either ignored or heavily critised for their point of view, but ultimately proved right and met with a deafening slience.
It echoes a now infamous incident that happened in Ireland in 2007, when we were at the height of our own property boom. The then Prime Minister (or Taoiseach) Bertie Ahern, said that "that he did not know how people who engaged in moaning about the economy did not commit suicide". http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0704/economy.html Since then, Bertie has left his office in controversial circumstances over alleged corruption, and those who his remarks have been aimed at, such as courageous economists David McWilliams and George Lee, are held up as visionaries who warned about the dangers of excess when everyone else was gorging at the trough. As a result, the Irish taxpayer is to become the single largest owner of real estate in the WORLD, to the tune of €55bn ($75bn), because of the generous nature of the Irish Government bailout of the greedy Irish banks. This is in a country of just 4.5m people, which makes it all the more staggering. The Irish Government has bet the future of our country on the recovery of the Irish real estate market, and the youngest generation currently will end up paying for this stupidity over the next 50 years.
p.s. For all those who reckon it's morally wrong to make a fortune from a slump or crash, how is that different from making money in the good times? People are always borrowing foolishly (when the banks allow them to) and get into trouble even when the economy is doing ok. It's just these stories dont receive a mention when the media, along with everyone else, gets caught up reporting how fabulously brilliant we all are when times are good.
Not that Vanity Fair doesn't have high standards, but the author of the article(actually a chapter of his new book) was Michael Lewis, who is quite a good writer by himself. :)