[BretLudwig]

Spielberg and Katzenberg hit by Madoff losses

"The LA Times reports "Madoff Debacle Hits Region's Jewish Community,"
with movie moguls like Spielberg and Katzenberg on the list.

The interesting questions at this point are whether the Madoff case
represents merely a conventional affinity scam, exceptional only in being
carried out among the richest and most influential affinity group in the
country, or whether it's representative of a general trend where the more
ethnocentric Jews are being hit particularly hard by the general financial
collapse (not just Madoff), perhaps due to being more aggressive
risk-takers. If so, that could have sizable political and cultural
ramifications.

For example, consider the high regard with which the opinions of the
Southern Poverty Law Center are treated. It basically comes down to the
assumption: if they are rich, if they can afford to trumpet their
assertions widely, then must be legit, right? (In truth, the vast wealth
this so-called charity has piled up is more a sign of their moral
corruption, but human beings respect riches.) What happens, though, if the
SPLC, which gets much of its money from the kind of people who invest with
the Bernie Madoffs of the world, isn't quite so rich in the future?

The other question is: Exactly what is so unique about what Bernie Madoff
did, other than to admit his business was a "giant Ponzi scheme"?"


http://isteve.blogspot.com/2008/12/s...by-madoff.html

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