Bernie is off to the slammer after pleading guilty today. With a 150 year sentence hanging over his head, Bernie won't see the light of day outside of a cell in a long time, if ever. I do not condone Bernie's actions. But I do have a question or two for the investors. With the exception of those folks who were in a pension fund and don't normally follow what's happening with their investments, what's the excuse for the individual investors? When their rate of returns, at least on paper, were higher then anybody else in town, didn't they wonder why? Bernie either had to be the greatest brain in the investing game or a fraud. "If it seems to good to be true," it usually is for a good reason!! These investors were supposed to be intelligent folks. You don't become wealthy by being stupid. So do the investors share some of the blame for their greed? I don't know. But it sure seems fishy to me.
His community is close-knit. When one person is getting such high returns, the others want in on the deal or can be embarrassed into it. The power of peer pressure is difficult to resist.
ReplyDeletePerhaps so, Shel.
ReplyDelete