Monday, June 29, 2009

Itching For A Fight



Barry Ritholtz is itching for a fight and I just may be game. He's decided to put up $10,000-$100,000 to debate anyone on, well, you can read his post - $100,000 CRA Challenge.

One dude named John Carney has accepted the bet but Barry, a man whose entire livelihood depends on trading/investing OPM (Other People's Money) has thus far, most hypocritically, refused to accept the challenge because Carney needed a *backer*.

Read my comments on that thread before Barry deletes them.

I'm going to ratchet up my antagonism on this matter. One, because it's warranted. And two, because I've got an smidgen of free time now.

Barry Ritholtz is by no means a formidable intellectual - and I'm amazed how much credence he's won from pure bluster.

Definitely check out - Barry Don't Know Logic - which has links to my other *Ritholtz* posts.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

John Carney got redlined on the CRA challenge? What the heck is Blodget paying him with, YHOO call options?

In reality, CRA was nothing but another idiotic government handout, like VA loans or whatnot. The real damage was done by the LTCM bailout. After LTCM, every bigtime FIRE outfit in America had no choice but to maximize risk. They knew the government would bail them out if things went wrong. They were right.

CaptiousNut said...

He got *redlined* in the figurative sense that Barry at first (how about now?) refused to debate him if he had a backer.

Ritholtz originally responded:

John Carney has Tweeted a request for a financial backer– but what “put up or shut up” actually means is put up your own money and have some skin in the game (like I will) or shut up.

As much as I would like to take a $100k from his backer, the phrase isn’t "raise a $100k from some putz and debate me."


Yes indeed, LTCM signaled the plutocrats that they could and would be bailed out if needed. But maybe that's the way it's always been on Wall Street? Or maybe they became emboldened in 1999? I don't know.

Will Durant pointed out that all great civilizations were born *pious*, became *militaristic*, but died *mercantile*.

I think that now there's no doubt whatsoever what stage we are at. There's no doubt that Wall Street, large bondholders, Big Business and Big Labor run this country.