Honor Among Thieves: The Bernie Madoff Story

Sometimes a story tickles both the legal and economic sensibilities of Blawgconomics to such an extent that it is simply impossible to ignore. For obvious reasons, these stories are not generally positive for their subjects, and the present is no exception; apparently, and probably unsurprisingly, financier turned lifer Bernie Madoff has much more honor among thieves than the people whose fortunes he squandered in the world's largest Ponzi scheme. Placed on the same lofty perch by inmates as mob bosses and former spies, Madoff is seemingly a bit of a celeb in his new home.

Detailed in this New York Magazine story are his contempt for the regulators whose ignorance allowed him to continue his scheme for so long, his frequent and profanity-laced dismissals of his former clients and jokes about the auctioning of his watch collection. Apparently he shows no remorse, but then maybe that is viewed as an admirable trait among his new lifelong roommates.

Madoff may be a symbol of all that was wrong with Wall St. over the past decade or so. He had a very successful and legitimate business and was well respected among the financial, social and political elite. However, despite living the good life, he wanted more and this greed eventually led to his downfall. As Bud Fox might have said, 'How much is enough?'

That greed was a contributing factor is evident; the lesson to be learned is less so. Indeed, it is often greed that drives inventors to innovate and entrepreneurs to succeed. Maybe the lesson is that it is often a finer line, or perhaps more fittingly a shorter step, than people like to admit between working hard and taking shortcuts. Maybe not. However, in a world where history often repeats one thing that is fairly certain is that even if lessons aren't learned, the Madoff story itself will not soon be forgotten.