"Greed overtakes fear and the game begins again"

"I could be on the beach, but I can't wait to get to the office every day. Risk-taking is like a giant jigsaw puzzle," says billionaire Sam Zell, whose Forbes 400 bio notes "Parents escaped Poland weeks before Nazi invasion; Sam born in Chicago 4 months after family's arrival in America. Built real estate empire buying up cheap real estate throughout U.S. from distressed owners, kept buying when values recovered and boomed." A true American dreamer. (photo unattributed)

"The US economy will avoid recession as the housing market begins to recover this spring, according to billionaire investor Sam Zell," reports CNBC:

Speaking on "Squawk Box" this morning, Zell attributed much of the current economic troubles to fear-mongering and politicking by Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

"Obviously what we have going on is an attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Zell, chairman of Equity Investments Group and owner of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other companies. "We have two Democratic candidates who are vying with each other to describe the economic situation worse."

"I believe Sam," says our imail correspondent, delighting us with her wit and wisdom:

She: It's the same old, same old. When the RATS have no more straws to grab, they ALWAYS fall back on their default position, "It's the economy, stupid."

We: As if the economy could be controlled by a president, anyway. It's the politicians and their fellow travelers in the MEDIA who distort it by their panicky talk when they think it will hurt Republicans. If only they taught Economics 101 in schools. Business cycles are unknown among the great unwashed.

She: Stupid 'Mercans, who "want theirs," fall for it again and again.

We: Charlie Brown and the football.

We love adored Zell's bottom line:

"I think Bernanke's reduction in interest rates has been spot-on, because basically we're going to fix the credit markets by creating a big enough spread between the risk-free cost of capital and what's available so that greed overtakes fear and the game begins again."

It may be the root of all evil, but the love of money is good for the business of America.

Comments

[wisdom]

I had not thought about the economy in such a way as obama and hilary trying to make it seem worse. Interesting take. I disagree though. I feel the economy won't rebound untill 2009.