In thereviewof the book “The Match King,” WSJ journalist, Chancellor, discusses how Bernie Madoff was not the first to commit fraud on Wall St (and will certainly not be the last!). The conclusion of his review echoes St. Paul’s view of the law and its inability to engender what it commands.
“Regulation can do little to prevent this state of affairs (financial villainy, etc.) from repeating itself. Regulatory agencies were created to protect the world against future Ivar Kreugers (the Match King/1932 Financial Villain). Yet the same agencies failed to heed warnings about Bernard Madoff. Policymakers are now calling for new rules that, they say, will prevent future crises. The tragic, timely story of “The Match King” suggests that this is wishful thinking.”
From Romans 8:3- “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.”
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4 responses to “Financial Villains, Regulation, and St. Paul’s Understanding of the Law”
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I love it. . .another report from the “Gospel Finance Desk”–
and, what a disturbing picture:)
Thank you Drake. I love your posts, man. I remember the insider trading scandals of the 80’s with people like Mike Milken and Ivan Boesky when I was growing up…around the same time as Trump’s iconic ‘Art of the Deal’ hit the shelves. Boesky and Milken were people I actually admired as contemporary robber barons (I was totally caught up in the 80’s Zeitgeist–I even rocked the Gordon Gekko hairstyle for about a year).
The controversy about their sentencing, as I remember, was that they both went to a ‘Tennis on the lawn’ type prison. Despite the egregious use of law in the early weeks of the Madoff case, it appears that Bernie may not be so fortunate.
It is interesting to see the reaction to the civil use of the law: Boesky actually began attending classes at the Jewish Theological Seminary after he was released from prison, and Milken is heavily involved in philanthropic endeavors (though he was still a billionaire after paying hundreds of millions in fines!). Even though he will probably die in prison, I wonder if we’ll see a similar ‘comeback’ from Bernie in some form? Perhaps prison the catalyst for a benign variety of abreaction? 😉
I hope prison is the catalyst for a Bernie Madoff abreaction! Maybe if he goes to a Lebanese prison he will act out ’12 Angry Men’!
Anyway, it is amazing how Boesky and Milken (and even Trump!) have recreated themselves and turned outward. What a good insight!
A Forbes.com quote said that most people in the midst of ‘depressions’ had the opposite reaction: “How did ordinary Americans cope in the 1970s? Many turned inward. Writer Tom Wolfe captured the decade’s mood in a 1976 essay called “The Me Decade and the Third Great Awakening.” Wolfe used the term “awakening” as satire. What Wolfe described was far from the religious awakenings led by Jonathan Edwards in the early 18th century or by the abolitionists of the 19th century. Rather, the great awakening of the 1970s was a national plunge into self-absorption.”
Dr. Ake,
Thanks for the Wolfe reference…I assume this self-absorption led to Yuppiedom. (Though I have a softer spot in my heart for yuppies than hippies, for some reason.)