Update (hat-tip to Jim Hall at Deep Capture):

Financier/speculator/activist George Soros (Soros Fund Management) is in Nigerian scouting for opportunities for investment, according to all Africa.com:

“The Soros delegation met Nigerian bankers including senior managers from United Bank for Africa and Diamond Bank during their trip to Lagos, according to sources within the banks. Representa-tives of at least two other big US and European funds have also visited Lagos since the start of the year, according to another industry source. Soros Fund Management declined to comment.”

The banking sector is heavily represented in the Nigerian stock-exchange, and after a high in March 2008, has taken a tumble that many blame on the withdrawal of funds by foreign investors. However, foreign hedge funds and investors apparently take up only 10-12% of share capital, say analysts. They blame the market collapse on the popular practice of banks lending money to people to buy shares, which led to speculation and soaring prices. Since then,

“The plunge in stock prices has provoked concern about the extent of banks’ exposure to losses from these loans and raised questions about the level of supervision by the Central Bank of Nigeria and other regulators.”

So there’s a Goldman Sachs hedge-fund executive in the Nigerian cabinet, which obviously would have a good deal to say about the running of the Central Bank, and there’s George Soros, meeting with Nigerian bankers.

That’s all three parts of my formula for corruption (“some government officials, some speculators, and some banks” versus everyone else):

s(G) + s(S) + s(S) v EE, where ‘s’ is always a positive integer

FinAlternatives reports:

“Nigeria’s acting President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed a Goldman Sachs prime brokerage executive to the country’s cabinet. Olusegun Aganga, who is based in London, heads Goldman’s hedge fund consulting services. The managing director has reportedly been actively developing the firm’s business in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.”

Now what would that business be?

A Goldman report, “Health Buys Wealth” suggests one angle:

GS Health Buys Wealth

Maybe, Goldman is angling for some lucrative private-public deals in health care, infrastructure, and other “humanitarian” investments?

Great piece at Lew Rockwell by Albert J. Nock on the vanity of instructing the masses

“In the year of Uzziah’s death, the Lord commissioned the prophet to go out and warn the people of the wrath to come. “Tell them what a worthless lot they are.” He said, “Tell them what is wrong, and why and what is going to happen unless they have a change of heart and straighten up. Don’t mince matters. Make it clear that they are positively down to their last chance. Give it to them good and strong and keep on giving it to them. I suppose perhaps I ought to tell you,” He added, “that it won’t do any good. The official class and their intelligentsia will turn up their noses at you and the masses will not even listen. They will all keep on in their own ways until they carry everything down to destruction, and you will probably be lucky if you get out with your life.”

Isaiah had been very willing to take on the job – in fact, he had asked for it – but the prospect put a new face on the situation. It raised the obvious question: Why, if all that were so – if the enterprise were to be a failure from the start – was there any sense in starting it? “Ah,” the Lord said, “you do not get the point. There is a Remnant there that you know nothing about. They are obscure, unorganized, inarticulate, each one rubbing along as best he can. They need to be encouraged and braced up because when everything has gone completely to the dogs, they are the ones who will come back and build up a new society; and meanwhile, your preaching will reassure them and keep them hanging on. Your job is to take care of the Remnant, so be off now and set about it.”

Business Insider owner, Henry Blodget, has fired John Carney, the editor of its blog, Clusterstock, apparently over differences on what sort of news commentary to run. From Village Voice blogs:

“We’re told Carney was fired by Blodget this afternoon, and it was speculated that this was the result of the last few weeks of disagreements between Blodget, publisher Julie Hansen, and Carney over how to best run Business Insider: Blodget wanted more sensational, pageview-grabbing posts and click-friendly features like galleries, while Carney wanted to put forth breaking news scoops that told a longer narrative. It was also speculated that Carney, one of the highest paid members on the Business Insider staff, wasn’t bringing the traffic numbers to sufficiently satisfy Henry Blodget, given his high profile within the financial reporting world, but that Clusterstock’s homepage had the highest traffic of all the verticals at Business Insider during Carney’s tenure, and that his own stories generated “tons of [unique visitors].”

While I didn’t care for Carney’s routine dismissal of naked short-selling critics, he was a thoughtful writer on other topics, the latest evidence for which was his column on why Lehman executives should not be criminally prosecuted.

It’s not that I agree with everything he says there. I don’t. I think there’s a place for criminal prosecution, even in a “they all did it” culture. It’s just that it isn’t the popular thing to say now, with anger running high out there, and I admire people when they make unpopular arguments, based on reason.

Meanwhile, at Economic Policy Journal, Robert Wenzel makes a fairly good case that the firing had to do with Carney not putting in the sweat and blood needed for a start up, and – perhaps – upstaging/undermining one of Blodget’s own scoops..

Since then, I’ve also seen Carney’s name on a list of speakers at the Milken Institute…

[That’s Michael Milken, the junk-bond dealer-turned-philanthropist, and Sith Lord of market-racketeering even unto this day, according to Deep Capture: http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-dendreon]

Not that that necessarily means anything, of course, since scores, if not hundreds, of writers, business men and consultants voice their opinion at the Milken Institute. Still, it does remind you how incestuous the financial world is, and makes you wonder whether the coziness of the culture really does prevent most arguments made there from being much more than a post hoc rationalization of the buttered side of some piece of bread somewhere. Not in any vulgar quid pro quo sense. But simply in the sense of a shared blind spot, much like the blind spot Dick Fuld shared with other investment bankers, like, say Henry Paulson, who, we hear is doing just fine on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University...

“Since the dominant voice in any society is that of the beneficiaries of the status quo, the ‘alienated intellectual’ who tries to pursue the normal path of honest enquiry – perhaps falling into error on the way – and thus often finds himself challenging the conventional wisdom, tends to be a lonely figure.”

~ Noam Chomsky, “The Function of the University in a Time of Crisis” in For Reasons of State (1973), p. 91

A sad day for freedom of speech. University of Ottawa student protests led to the canceling of a scheduled speech by controversial conservative writer, Ann Coulter.

Nothing wrong with protesting. That’s just what the tea-parties were about. But for one group of students to obstruct what another group might want to hear is uncivil, to say the least.

And then there was that letter by University of Ottawa Provost Houle. It all but threatened Coulter with criminal prosecution should she cross over into “hate speech.”

“I would, however, like to inform you, or perhaps remind you, that our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, delineate freedom of expression (or “free speech”) in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States. I therefore encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here.

You will realize that Canadian law puts reasonable limits on the freedom of expression. For example, promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges. Outside of the criminal realm, Canadian defamation laws also limit freedom of expression and may differ somewhat from those to which you are accustomed. I therefore ask you, while you are a guest on our campus, to weigh your words with respect and civility in mind.”

(http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2710037#ixzz0j8rftU3r)

At Salon, Glenn Greenwald points out the creepiness of such a threat, even for a “hate-monger,” while Coulter grabbing onto the “hate” tag, is accusing Houle of a hate-crime, in his turn.

Personally, I’d like to see the word “hate” given a rest. Coulter’s language is often crude, insensitive, and juvenile, sometimes inflammatory, and a lot of the time just plain wrong,  but “hate” is pretty harsh. And far too broad. Didn’t Noam Chomsky – whose writing on foreign policy I admire – call Murray Rothbard’s writing – which I admire even more – a form of hate?

These days “hate” is just invective – like “fascist” or “Nazi” – for something you don’t like.

Besides, even Ann Coulter can be insightful and truthful.**

[Admittedly, the ratio of insight to invective in her writing has diminished over time, but some part of the blame for that also rests on her critics. Liberal venues- which are the prestigious ones – are often so intolerant of conservative views that they ignore or ostracize people off the bat, unfairly. That reinforces conservatives in their role as  “victims” of liberal close-mindedness, and they give up on respectability. Eventually, they start playing to the roughest part of the gallery, turn into caricatures of themselves, find that lucrative, and end up settling into the role of class clown and disruptor of all things civil and polite….the train-wreck mode of discourse, as some wag puts it].

Ann Coulter has perfected this strategy of ticking- off the left, fueling the right, and making big money in the process.

And today, she’s also a free-speech martyr.

Now, that’s what I call a business instinct…

** In one notorious remark about John Edwards, Coulter implied that the senator wouldn’t be above using a family tragedy for political advantage. At the time, her remark was (rightfully) denounced, and by none more loudly than the tragic Elizabeth Edwards. But that denunciation sounds poignantly off-base when reread today.

Correction: I originally had this as David Lapin..it’s Daniel Lapin (here’s a link to his Mises archive)
Tom di Lorenzo writes:

“The next speaker in my Moral Foundations of Capitalism lecture series at Loyola University Maryland is Rabbi Daniel Lapin, whose topic is: “Do The Right Thing: Get Rich.”

Rabbi Lapin is one of the most skilled rhetorical defenders of private property and free enterprise that I have ever encountered. He combines his knowledge of ancient Hebrew wisdom and economics to explain the morality of economic freedom.

Time: 7 PM Wednesday, March 24

Place: Andrew White Center, 4th Floor Program Room, Loyola University Maryland, 4501 N. Charles St., Baltimore

Henry  Hazlitt in Economics in One Lesson, on the nature of credit:

“There is a strange idea abroad,  held by all monetary cranks, that credit is something a banker  gives to a man. Credit, on the contrary, is something a man already has. He has it, perhaps, because he already has marketable assets of a greater cash value than the loan for which he is asking. Or he has it because his character and past record have earned it. He brings it into the bank with him. That is why the banker makes him the loan. The banker is not giving him something for nothing. He feels assured of repayment. He is merely exchanging a more liquid form of asset or credit for a less liquid form.“

or, to put it another way, even less palatable to modern sensibilities:

“The wicked borroweth and payeth not again” (Psalms. 37:21 a).

A rather odd coincidence.

Two top hedge-fund managers from the purported Wall Street mafia have left the scene, in different ways.

Goldman’s chief hedge-fund manager, Pierre-Henri Flamand (chief of GS Principal Strategies), retired in February after 15 years at Goldman. Flamand was with Principal Strategies from 2002 -2007, and then turned it into a hedge-fund in 2008, is starting his own fund. He’s being replaced by another manager from GSPS. Goldman has been accused of conniving with select hedge-funds to conduct bear raids on banks and governments.

Meanwhile, Adam Sackett, co-chief of trading at Third Point Capital, died on March 11, March 10, Wednesday night, apparently from a sudden bacterial infection. Third Point is one of the hedge-funds accused of colluding with David Einhorn’s Greenlight and SAC’s Steven Cohen in manipulative activities. Sackett had previously worked at Jim Chanos’ hedge-fund Kynikos (suspected by some to be part of that group), according to this death notice in the New York Times.

Note: Bankruptcy examiner Anton Valukas’ report on the demise of Lehman came out on March 11, 2010, the day after Sackett died.

Our condolences to the family.

In a letter to investors, posted at scribd, Daniel Loeb, Sackett’s co-chief at Third Point, called him “brilliant, kind, and funny, ” says the WSJ.

Last year, Third Point lost three senior officers, its chief operating officer, Brian Wilson, chief risk officer, Devin Dellaire, and head of investor relations, Tom Kratky.

And what’s been happening on the Madoff front? According to a long Wall Street Journal piece, he was allegedly beaten up in prison in December by another prisoner serving time for a drug conviction. He’s also been seen socializing with a Colombian crime family boss, Carmine Persico.

(From wiki:

“As of November 2007, Carmine “Junior” Persico still remains the reputed Boss of the Colombo crime family, with current street boss Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli, and former Persico rival, John “Sonny” Franzese as the Underboss, but due to parole violations, Andrew “Andy Mush” Russo is the acting Underboss instead of Franzese, with the Aloi brothers, Vincenzo and Benedetto, as alleged Consigliere.

Carmine Persico has reportedly been running the Colombo crime family since the 1970s, days after Joseph Colombo was shot, and Persico’s name has been mentioned in dozens of murder-cases since then, as he has been in charge of the Colombos for over three decades. During his 50-year-membership with the Colombo crime family, he has survived three internal wars, his life sentence, and allegedly been shot more than 20 times. Persico is also only one of three defendants from the Mafia Commission Trial who received 100 years and is still alive.

Still, Persico remains the Boss of the Colombo crime family. As of March 2009, Persico is serving a life imprisonment at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Medium in North Carolina. His projected release-date is March 20, 2050, effectively a life sentence.^[1] It has been reported that Persico socializes with fellow inmate Bernard Madoff.^[4])”

Meanwhile, court appointed trustee Irving Picard is suing Madoff’s sons for $198 million, for dereliction of duty as his employees.

The two sons, as well as Madoff’s brother, are being charged with tax fraud.

Altogether five others have been charged in connection with this scheme, two having pleaded guilty and the rest maintaining their innocence.(Lila: I’m not clear from the WSJ piece if the two sons are part of the five or in addition.)

On March 17 (Wednesday) a federal grand jury also indicted Jerome O’Hara and George Perez, two programmers who allegedly developed the software that helped Madoff with his scheme. (More at Daily Finance).

Capitalism & Morality

“This idea that the government has services or goods that they can pass on is a complete farce. Governments have nothing. They can’t create anything, they never have. All they can do is steal from one group and give it to another at the destruction of the principles of freedom.”
-Ron Paul

“To the masses, the catchwords of Socialism sound so enticing… so they will continue to work for Socialism, helping thereby to bring about the inevitable decline of the civilization which the nations of the West have taken thousands of years to build up.”

-Ludwig von Mises

Please join us in a Seminar to discuss the vital importance of social and economic liberty. We will explore how compromising liberty and morality in search of superficial egalitarianism and seeming security has put the West on a slippery and dangerous path.

Program (Saturday, 8 May 2010):

• 8:30 to 9am: Introduction by Jayant Bhandari
• 9 to 11am: “Character & a Free Society” by Lawrence W. Reed, President, Foundation for Economic Education, USA. As a journalist, Lawrence visited 69 countries; spent time with Contra rebels in Nicaragua; lived with Mozambique rebel forces; traveled with freedom activists in Poland
• 11 to 11:15am: Coffee
• 11:15 to 1:15pm: “Defending the Undefendable,” by Walter Block, Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Chair in Economics and Professor of Economics at Loyola University New Orleans and Senior Fellow with the Ludwig von Mises Institute, USA
• 1:15 to 2:15pm: Lunch
• 2:15 to 4pm: “How Capitalism Tames the Vices,” by Lila Rajiva, author of The Language of Empire (Monthly Review Press, 2005)  and the bestselling Mobs, Messiahs and Markets (Wiley, 2007), co-authored with Bill Bonner
• 4 to 4:15pm: Coffee
• 4:15 to 4:45pm: Closing remarks by Paul Geddes, Vice-President, West Coast Libertarian Foundation, Canada

Cost: Early-bird offer; $80 per person, $40 for students; lunch & coffee covered by the admission fee

Date: Saturday, 8 May 2010

Venue:
Event Rooms 1300-1500
Segal Graduate School of Business
500 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 1W6
(This is an independent event, not affiliated with the School)

“Contrary to the vulgar belief that men are motivated primarily by materialistic considerations, we now see the capitalist system being discredited and destroyed all over the world, even though this system has given men the greatest material comforts”

-Ayn Rand

“It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.”
-Murray Rothbard

“…if we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion.”
-F. A. Hayek

“The free market punishes irresponsibility. Government rewards it.”
-Harry Browne

“Morally acting man seeks profit; immorally acting man seeks plunder.”
-Jay S. Snelson

REGISTER:

Jayant Bhandari
1502-1189 Melville Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6E4T8
Telephone: +1-604-288-7569
Email: contact@jayantbhandari.com

Link to the Flyer