Cheat, Pray, Love
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2009/01/12/090112ta_talk_surowiecki
Discovering what the crooks have been up to is disillusioning, but not as disillusioning as coming to terms with what the so-called honest people did. In David Mamet’s movie “House of Games,” the grifter played by Joe Mantegna explains to a former mark, “It’s called a confidence game. Why? Because you give me your confidence? No. Because I give you mine.” So the bankers gave us their confidence, in the form of mortgages and other forms of credit, and we gave them ours. This culture of credulity did plenty of damage to the economy, but now it has given way to something even more corrosive; namely, endemic mistrust. Because if there’s one thing worse than too much confidence it’s not enough. Fraud impoverishes a few; fear impoverishes the many. As long as mistrust prevails, people will keeping pulling money out of the system—sometimes even at gunpoint.
- James Surowiecki
James, I completely agree. You were spot on.
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