A Review of Nick Paumgarten’s article ‘Death Of Kings’

In Nick Paumgarten’s article ‘Death Of Kings’ he examines the end of the credit boom that brought down Wall street.  He began exploring the first signs of the end, by interviewing the real players in the market in an effort to narrow down the facts surrounding the crisis.  His first interview was with a ‘Wall street cynic’ and late comer to the market who bought a new house at the time he went to work for a hedge fund only to lose it all, when the “markets turned and the hedge fund went under.”

One sign of the economic meltdown was found in the lending excesses of the mortgage industry evidenced by the ease of loan approvals, a ‘lightening bulb’ moment for one executive when his cleaning woman cleared a sub prime mortgage loan in a few months; a sign of the ‘land of opportunity’ for many, what would or should have been a sign to Wall street professionals, of a disaster inviting imbalance.

Another sign came to a hedge fund manager at a meeting with 80 plus professionals when he realized the average income per professional worked out to be one hundred million plus whether or not they had the intelligence to warrant their deep pockets.  Three hundred million spent in a single night, for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, was to many, a show of the lush Chinese empire but to one professional signaled the end of what he called ‘the prodigal age.’  Lehman brothers and his business collapsed a month later.

Another early casualty was the Galt fund that devalued abruptly.  The fund’s manager wrote in a statement to his investors “I am less concerned about what specifically happened in October than I am about the poor business judgment you have shown in general.” To these charges I plead guilty by reason of youth, inexperience, greed, hubris and temporary insanity. There are simply no good answers to the questions posed above.”

Like a colonnade of dominoes, down came AIG, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae to which Nick compared ta chronic illness due to its ‘persistent state’.  The meltdown was not sudden even though it happened in a short space of time, it grew and expanded, eventually expending all the over fed, under-supported businesses in the economy.

This is a saying in Jamaica usually applied to individuals who lose money in financial schemes.  This is also applicable  in the financially catastrophic MLM constructed by Bernie Madoff, in which funds from newcomers were used to pay older termed investors, thus perpetuating the scheme over the course of 20 years.

Those who lost money are classified as victims.  In my definition a victim is an innocent who was deceived through no fault of her own.  Madoff’s victims are just a small cross section in the body of investors, who participated fully in  financial risk taking knowing that 1. Success meant failure or loss for someone else and 2. There was an expectation to gain something for nothing.

Hence, Madoff would not have been able to succeed in deluding them out of their money, if they had honest intentions in the first place.  I am sure Madoff’s victims worked hard for their money and may have lost sight of the simple and basic law of life that for every action there is an equal reaction and that you get back what you put out;  The expectation of excessive returns without working for it amounts to looking for ‘free money,’  which most astute investors caution against and advise modest gains through sound investment over ‘get rich quick’ schemes.

While some may eschew this personal liability, just be prepared to accept the consequences when the capricious tides of fortune change directions.

52 BOOKS IN 52 Weeks 

Countdown began Sunday, July 17, 2011 with Book #52.

#51. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy

I have lost my infatuation with the book, just 52 pages into the story.  See my first review here

I am in love with Tolstoy’s writing style but it is lost on the boring Russian aristocracy, a culture I care nothing for.  The reason could be one of several: Maybe it has to do with the first character Stephan who has such a neutralizing influence on the story’s development; mostly because of his dispassionate approach to life.  The second character, Levin, a passionate but innocent farmer who bears a strong dislike for life in Russia;  his dynamism was not worth much among the snobs of the gentry.  And there is his love interest, Kitty.  Her name is Kitty?

I thought about pressing through the pain of change from reading easy fiction to classics, a feat I knew would require some commitment.  The book is worse than cold medicine.   A book is supposed to engage and delight.  In any case, I am at the junction where the main character enters the picture and so I will continue,  but not with the enthusiasm with which I began.

52 BOOKS IN 52 Weeks 

Countdown began Sunday, July 17, 2011 with Book #52.

Online BookClub ( Email me to join at omeloconnor1@gmail.com)

#51. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina is a book by Leo Tolstoy.  As it begins, we are told the story of Stephan, a father of five who had been caught cheating on his wife, a minor sin in comparison to his response upon getting caught.  Stephan, who walked in after his wife read the incriminating letter, found an unexpected but kind smile spreading across his face when his wife started screaming the typical obscenities one can expect in such matters.

I understand his response.  I myself laugh in the most dire circumstances especially if I was caught doing something I shouldn’t have, but as is normal, the repercussions will work out within the correct impact that should register in such a moment.  As you can guess, Stephan felt terrible and the days succeeding the fall out became heavy, as he began to process that it was beyond his power to fix the brokenness of his life.  Tolstoy’s words are just as applicable to the wife who also had to contend with the loss.

“There was no answer, except the general answer life gives to all the most complex and insoluble questions.  That answer is:   one must live for the needs of the day, in other words, become oblivious.  To become oblivious in dreams was impossible now, at least till night-time; it was impossible to return to that music sung by carafe-women; and so one had to become oblivious to the dream of life.” Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy P.4.

She could not accept the blatant serve of disrespect evidenced in a smile where sorrow and regret should have been. She has no choice but to end her marriage but it leaves her in the same position as Stephan with a season of life that bears no explanation that could easily solve the problem or mitigate the heavy impact of circumstances.

I am excited about this book.  It was given to me by one crazy mentor but it is the kind of book that demands that you examine every line.  It is a big book (815 pages),but that, I am happy about.

52 BOOKS IN 52 WEEKS. 

Countdown began Sunday, July 17, 2011 with Book #52.

#52. Floor Sample – A Creative Memoir by Julia Cameron.

I have only completed two thirds of the story but with so many life fragments crammed into the book, I was wondering, what more could she possibly have to say.  As you can guess, I am not exactly in love with this writer.  It is not her writing style but her character that I take issue with.

Julie documented the development of her problem as a  blossoming alcoholic very early on in the story, so I knew it was going to be a major part, but  I felt disdain for her simplistic approach to life. I hate gypsies.  I never had tolerance for  people who drifted off into notoriously deadly habits and even more than that I hate the simplistic explanations such as ‘I drank to appear sophisticated or cool and worldly. ‘ Frankly, I avoid such vulgar philosophy but this book had something of value I later discovered.  I decided to continue.

[I was so put off by the writer, I felt compelled to research reviews online to find out what others thought.  Many people expressed disgust saying Ms Cameron is 'self involved', 'narcissistic', 'selfish'; if I should quote some Amazon.com users.] I lost interest several times while reading but stuck it out regardless.

Julie, the writer, lost her writing career due to a conflict of interest and was on the verge of losing her talent on account of her drinking habit.  One contributing factor was, life in Hollywood with her celebrity husband forced her to choose between family and a NYC writing career the place where she experienced her greatest successes post graduation from a prestigious university. She ultimately came to the realization that she needed to be in New York writing her ‘own material’ not helping her by then famous husband write his.  Her one line conclusion struck a chord with me. “Sanity lay in autonomy.”

I have thought about the role of women but especially highly driven women and how they function in families.  Very early on I was seen as different from my sisters because I was either leading crusades against injustices, in kindergarten or  concocting business ideas in High School.  I remember my father begging me to go the ‘normal’ route or risk making my life very hard.    I also remember my aunts telling me they don’t think I was fit for marriage.  I did not know I would be hearing this, my entire life.  It would seem that if a woman is not ‘normal’ (whatever that means), that she could not play the role of a wife.

However, reading about Julie’s missteps in abandoning her talent and career in favor of a life with her husband,  reconfirmed my belief that an individual cannot contribute to the success of a relationship if she is underdeveloped.  I believe the universe is interested in every talent,  that the journey of life is about developing one’s potential to the full and that the growth we experience in separate experiences provide the self realization needed to be great team players both in community and marriage.

52 BOOKS IN 52 WEEKS. 

Countdown begins Sunday, July 17, 2011 with Book #52.

#52. Floor Sample – A Creative Memoir by Julia Cameron.

I will be delivering my review next Sunday and of course picking out the book for the following week.

I must admit, I did not have a reason for selecting this book, other than the picture on the front but I am excited to read, something, anything, everything and ah! this was the first thing I saw. 

The title ‘Floor Sample’ along with the supporting photo of a ‘dress form’ on the cover made me think it would be about fashion but much of it is about the writer’s desire to become a writer – a delightful discovery. 

“I am not certain when I decided that I would be a writer. Rather than deciding, I think that I became one simply through the doing.  I wrote daily to Nick and then I found I wrote daily, period.   Burning the candle at both ends and in the middle, as my mother always joked, I read at all hours of the day and night and I wrote at all hours too.”   ‘Floor Sample’ Julia Cameron, p. 20

The only way  to become a great writer or speaker is to read, write and practice daily.   It underscores what this blog is about. The road to greatness demands relentless practice of the art.  The art of speaking and presenting can not be separated from the craft of writing which is indelibly linked to reading. What are you reading, writing, speaking?