How Much is Enough?
Over the last few days, I have been reading the story of Raj Rajaratnam. He is a man who started a hedge fund called Gelleon Technologies and was listed as the 236th Richest Man in America. Yet, he was arrested for being part of an insider trading ring.
As I read this man's rags-to-riches stories, I wanted to ask a question that I have asked before in my writings here and in KP's sister sites: HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?. This is a man who took home over 200 Million Dollars in 2007 alone. Yet, he was apparently so sure of himself that he created a network of folks from IBM, Goldman and others to engage in an insider trading scheem that resulted in a 20 Million Windfall. I guess the idea here was power, influence and access to information. How somehow who is worth 1 Billion Dollars throws it all away to the tune of 20 Million is just simply stupid.
What Rajarathnam's story illustrates is a bigger problem of the continued culture of greed that seems to dominate Wall Street. JP Morgan and Goldman broke new earnings record. That's great news!! The Dow recovered nicely. That's also good news. But, when there are no jobs and people are not hiring, these gains amount to nothing.
The average joe will continue to struggle and muddle through. Will the average joe be able to be hopeful? I wonder in light of all the monies being made while jobs continue to be lost.
As I read this man's rags-to-riches stories, I wanted to ask a question that I have asked before in my writings here and in KP's sister sites: HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?. This is a man who took home over 200 Million Dollars in 2007 alone. Yet, he was apparently so sure of himself that he created a network of folks from IBM, Goldman and others to engage in an insider trading scheem that resulted in a 20 Million Windfall. I guess the idea here was power, influence and access to information. How somehow who is worth 1 Billion Dollars throws it all away to the tune of 20 Million is just simply stupid.
What Rajarathnam's story illustrates is a bigger problem of the continued culture of greed that seems to dominate Wall Street. JP Morgan and Goldman broke new earnings record. That's great news!! The Dow recovered nicely. That's also good news. But, when there are no jobs and people are not hiring, these gains amount to nothing.
The average joe will continue to struggle and muddle through. Will the average joe be able to be hopeful? I wonder in light of all the monies being made while jobs continue to be lost.
Mike Pouraryan
