tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post8394581156885235886..comments2024-03-22T11:55:50.335+13:00Comments on Not PC: Gekko drives byPeter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-17715720388387010052008-06-29T22:39:00.000+12:002008-06-29T22:39:00.000+12:00You're approach is imbecilic.Was that irony you we...<I>You're approach is imbecilic.</I><BR/><BR/>Was that irony you were going for?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-51681930666630912962008-06-28T08:40:00.000+12:002008-06-28T08:40:00.000+12:00Yeah and murder can be downgraded to simple assaul...Yeah and murder can be downgraded to simple assault, so long as the victim had less net worth than the criminal.<BR/><BR/><BR/>You're approach is imbecilic.<BR/><BR/>Get a brain!<BR/><BR/>LGMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-57607591876521981922008-06-27T16:50:00.000+12:002008-06-27T16:50:00.000+12:00Anyone who steals a sum greater than $1 million sh...Anyone who steals a sum greater than $1 million should be treated as a murderer - that sum represents more than a lifetime of work for many people. Byers and similar white collar parasites are far worse than the average thug roaming the streets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-76232828835862708132008-06-23T16:27:00.000+12:002008-06-23T16:27:00.000+12:00As I said to Peter privately I am still angry abou...As I said to Peter privately I am still angry about Stone's absurd film "Nixon"...a pack of lies from start to finish.<BR/><BR/>With regards to Blue Chip and Bridgecorp, I have an open mind and I think some matters should be left up to a Jury to decide (in the case of Bridgecorp Directors) and a potential Jury (in the case of Blue Chip).<BR/><BR/>Delighted Crampton and I share similar inspiration from the 'Greed is Good' speech!Elijah Lineberryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12626477239489811223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-135719734086800652008-06-23T14:38:00.000+12:002008-06-23T14:38:00.000+12:00Hi Matt, you said, "...I wonder if you're playing ...Hi Matt, you said, <I>"...I wonder if you're playing the man not the ball here. Any legal system properly designed to encourage wealth creation should take as given the presence of people like Mr Bryers operating in it and be careful to set incentives so that bad behaviour is punished, while genuine effort which turns out to lead to bad outcomes is not.</I>"<BR/><BR/>I wonder if I was unclear. I'm playing both the man AND the ball. If I only played the ball and didn't attack the man, no one would read the post. :-)<BR/><BR/>What I'm saying however is precisely that the system <I>is</I> improperly designed -- it's designed to put large gobs of counterfeit credit in the hands of the Mark Bryers of this world, who then piss it up against their creditors. <BR/><BR/>Bad man, bad system, bad central bankers.<BR/><BR/>And you're right in your second point. Anyone who sees a world wealthier than it was 20 or 50 or 1000 years ago and doesn't see value created rather than shifted from elsewhere is just dumb. Flat-out ignorant. Must have been keeping their brains in <A HREF="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6743689" REL="nofollow">PJ O'Rourke's pizza box</A>.<BR/><BR/>It's hard to know whether Wall St's writers were satirising the character of Gekko as being pig ignorant, or satirising the numb nut pseudo-capitalists who they figured would take Gekko as their hero (remembering that Americans generally don't get irony), or were themselves just flat-out ignorant on this point.<BR/><BR/>Opinions are divided on that.<BR/><BR/>But it's still a crap film.<BR/><BR/>PS: Here's a list of Oliver Stone's ten best films:Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-74925519425011628662008-06-23T14:10:00.000+12:002008-06-23T14:10:00.000+12:00I like this post PC, but I wonder if you're playin...I like this post PC, but I wonder if you're playing the man not the ball here. Any legal system properly designed to encourage wealth creation should take as given the presence of people like Mr Bryers operating in it and be careful to set incentives so that bad behaviour is punished, while genuine effort which turns out to lead to bad outcomes is not. Probably not an easy task for any regulator or lawmaker - but if it wasn't Bryers it would have been somebody else. <BR/><BR/>Much as I love Wall St the movie, and especially the endlessly watchable 'greed is good' slaying of those underperforming executives, I was always disappointed that Gecko's character was written to believe in a zero sum capitalist economy. It never rang true. Gecko would surely see a world wealthier than it was 20 or 50 or 1000 years ago and see value created not shifted from elsewhere.<BR/><BR/>Wall St's writers have a jarring pairing of ideas in their heads: on the one hand they plainly understand a lot about the mechanisms of capitalism; yet on the other they completely misunderstand what capitalism ultimately does, which is to create value and not steal it.Matt Burgesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10256353079960538374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-28303022740808595442008-06-23T13:32:00.000+12:002008-06-23T13:32:00.000+12:00A real big one coming- household names and all tha...A real big one coming- household names and all that. This'll be a goody too- bound to get the regulators well involved passing new rules to "prevent it happenning again", especially as some of the "important" chatterati get wiped done in. Stay tuned.<BR/><BR/>LGMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-22619111748685586152008-06-23T13:24:00.000+12:002008-06-23T13:24:00.000+12:00So we won't be running out of bad news to report o...So we won't be running out of bad news to report on anytime soon then ? :-)B.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09339203092573411336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-72689136041804137082008-06-23T13:15:00.000+12:002008-06-23T13:15:00.000+12:00No surprise, is it. It was the chap I quoted expla...No surprise, is it. It was the chap I quoted explaining the modus operandi of Blue Chip who went on to set up Merlot.<BR/><BR/>Like all pyramid schemes, they fail when <A HERF="http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/01/money-supply-and-recessions.html">the money runs out</A>.Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-27108331731388564642008-06-23T13:04:00.000+12:002008-06-23T13:04:00.000+12:00Thanks for an interesting look at the Blue Chip de...Thanks for an interesting look at the Blue Chip debacle. We might have another candidate for dissection shortly in <A HREF="http://www.interest.co.nz/ratesblog/index.php/2008/06/23/another-blue-chip-collapse-on-the-way/" REL="nofollow"> Merlot Property Investments</A>.B.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09339203092573411336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-14483648117861708712008-06-23T12:36:00.000+12:002008-06-23T12:36:00.000+12:00Well said.Well said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-73283174346841452652008-06-23T11:34:00.000+12:002008-06-23T11:34:00.000+12:00Gordon Gecko, in the first half of the movie, wasn...Gordon Gecko, in the first half of the movie, wasn't bad at all. His "greed is good" speech was fantastic: his defence of the corporate raider who tosses out incompetent management to the benefit of the shareholder owners...stirring. Of course, then Stone had to turn him evil. Sigh.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.com