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Ben Stein's Diary
Destination Sandpoint
It’s that time of year again, as Goldman Sachs toys with the market.
Thursday
Wifey and I arrived in Sandpoint
at about 9 PM last night after the usual grueling trip up — fly to
Seattle, change planes to a tiny little commuter, rent a car, drive
2 hours to get here. We went right to Trinity Restaurant at the
Edgewater, watched the lovers dining on the terrace, ate our meals,
and checked into our condo.
It was all in order except that neither the XM radio nor the movie channels on the cable work. Standard problems. XM is a super product but it has many flaws in delivering itself. As to cable, well, it’s cable.
This morning I was startled to see that the stock market had suffered a large loss. The main reasons seemed to be that the traders figured they could make money by selling rather than buying. That is always the real reason.
But the stated reasons were silly. A slowdown in manufacturing was one reason but everyone had seen that coming. Hiring was not bad. Home sales were down but that jumps all over the place, Big banks were having their ratings cut. That has also been in the works forever. Traders are supposed to sell on the rumor and buy on the news when it’s bad news. Wha’ hoppen?
The real news is that Goldman Sachs, a huge investment bank, says it’s time to short the S & P. But, wait… a couple of weeks ago they said a strong recovery was in the offing. And their chief investment guru, Abby Joseph Cohen, recently said stocks were the only thing to own. So, what made GS change their minds? The Eurozone crisis is not new. Fragility in the whole western world is not new. The looming slowdown in China is not new. What’s new? Someone at a trading post at GS said they could make a lot of money if the firm issued a pessimistic warning and in the meantime Goldman had gone short in a big way. Maybe, just conceivably, that’s it. No, no. I must be wrong. A reputable firm like Goldman Sachs? Use their prestige to make money trading? That surely could never happen.
If you believe that could happen, what kind of swine are you? Don’t you trust Goldman Sachs?
Silly question.
Meanwhile, why the heck are we not recovering? Well, let’s try this….
1.) The foolish idea of firing government workers in droves during a slowdown;
2.) Paying workers to stay unemployed;
3.) Environmental rulings which do nothing to reduce global pollution but do keep American workers from being employed, such as killing the Keystone Pipeline and protecting some little lizard in West Texas which keeps oil production down and keeps people from working;
4.) Proposing staggering tax increases during a slowdown by insisting that the Bush tax cuts lapse imminently instead of having highly selective taxes being slowly phased in;
5.) Standing idly by as the Eurozone goes into crisis instead of jumping in to right the European ship as we did after World War II (by monetary measures that cost the taxpayer nothing but save American jobs);
Well, it’s all discouraging. I don’t understand President Obama here. He is campaigning like the star campaigner he is. But he also has a job: He is President, and he has some responsibilities for helping a nation in trouble. I am not sure he quite gets this. He’s a great talker, but not that sharp on doing.
Well, enough on this.
About the Author
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (20) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.22.12 @ 11:42AM
Firing government workers when the tax base can't support it is not a foolish idea. The foolish idea was hiring them from the start.
Otherwise, you bring up some good points.
R Martin| 6.22.12 @ 1:36PM
Mr. Stein,
If I understand your feeble sarcasm correctly, you are criticizing Goldman Sachs for making money trading. Trading for their own accounts is what firms like Goldman do. Sometimes they make money; sometimes they don’t—see Morgan, J.P. In any case, when those firms trade, by definition, there is a counterparty—someone on the other side who takes an opposite view. That’s how free markets work. And, yes, it is a reputable business. Do you oppose that? Do think banks should be forced to operate as utilities, essentially riskless, and if you do, would that improve the efficiency of our capital markets?
You suggest someone at Goldman said, “Let’s put out a bearish report, short the market and hope everyone follows our advice like little lambs so we make money.” You don’t know if that is true and you don’t know if Goldman was, in fact, short the market. You are making it up. Do you know who else writes like that Mr. Stein? Maureen Dowd. You sound exactly like Maureen Dowd.
And as to trust, where should we put Goldman Sachs in the hierarchy of trust? Are they more trustworthy than, say, federal judges who base opinions on political philosophy rather than an interpretation of the law? Are they more trustworthy than scientists who distort data to support their own preconceived theories? And are they more trustworthy than columnists who publish absolute bilge water in return for some modest stipend?
I know who I trust.
Cobalt| 6.22.12 @ 3:07PM
The economic situation is terrifying for many of us.
The banking elite probably don't have our interests at heart; not that I expect them to.
The notional value of the worldwide deriviatives market is estimated to be around $1.2 quadrillion.
Some people say we are looking at a possible collapse of the worldwide derivatives market.
Absolutely terrifying.
GFFounder| 6.22.12 @ 3:12PM
I love to hear men talk so thankfully and lovingly about their wives .. except I can't recall the last time I heard those kind of things!?
Ben, you are a rare one!
Occam's Tool| 6.22.12 @ 4:07PM
Don't slowly phase in taxes at all, wanker. Cut spending, you blithering California babbling moron.
Jesus, Ben, is there Affirmative Action for Jews?
JohnInFlorida| 6.23.12 @ 3:55PM
"Don't slowly phase in taxes at all, wanker. Cut spending, you blithering California babbling moron."
Hear, hear!
One cannot repeat these sentiments too often ... especially the part that's been bolded!
Occam's Tool| 6.25.12 @ 2:12AM
Thank you, JohninFla.
Occam's Tool| 6.22.12 @ 4:09PM
And Ben, my wife makes yours look like dogshit. I am married to the finest woman on the planet, who has saved my life and my sanity multiple times.
Wrong again, Ben!
Occam's Tool| 6.22.12 @ 4:18PM
My wife: summa cum laude grad from Alabama in accounting, where she had two CONCURRENT FULL RIDE academic scholarships. Every day I thank G-d for her, and Ben---I live within my means, save over $50,000 a year, and never worry about money. The wife runs the investments, too.
Like I said, much better than yours.
Occam's Tool| 6.22.12 @ 4:20PM
Oh, and Ben---Europe is collapsing thanks to following economic advice like yours, and having insufficient kids (you had, I believe, one).
Plenty of data to rile the stock market. But there are plenty of good STOCKS.
Jeamar| 6.24.12 @ 10:40PM
Ocam I noticed last week you are really getting personal and all worked up about things. Maybe you should see a shrink.
Paul Lippert | 6.22.12 @ 5:47PM
Dear Mr. Stein,
Re: Goldman Sachs, I defer to your experience.
Re: your marriage, surely you are mistaken, as I believe I am married to the best person on the planet. Superlatives aside, she too is a saint and goddess, so she and your wife must be from the same spot in heaven.
Congratulations to your wife on her birthday, and best wishes that you celebrate many more together.
Cobalt| 6.22.12 @ 6:55PM
Proverbs 31:10, 11 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
Marie| 6.22.12 @ 7:41PM
And Obama is begging for your birthday money. What a breakdown of sensible behavior we have going on in the USA.
Hardcard| 6.23.12 @ 8:43AM
Dear Bennie,
You are just another hollyweird A-hole mucho grande. Take a nap.
75497| 6.23.12 @ 10:01AM
haha nice Old Testament touch coupling "swine" and GS...
Petronius| 6.23.12 @ 11:28AM
You don't understand Obama Ben? He is engineering economic ruin against the middle class because HE Hates Us! And the (white) liberals who run the rest of the Demoncrat party want us to have to vote for them or starve in the bargain. Alinsky rules. Want to get control of anything? Ruin it first. The Republicans are really great at that one. They'd rather lose than let Conservatives run things right.
QuietPro| 6.23.12 @ 4:35PM
I'm a Police Officer, Ben......you know, one of those "government workers" that you wish to "fire in droves." I've been a big fan of yours for a long time, especially on your sage investing advice. I could even tolerate your borderline religious fanaticism; especially towards agnostics and atheists. But nowadays you're sounding flat-out elitist; much like Warren Buffet, a very wealthy man willing to volunteer the taxation of other people without a second thought. People like you write this drivel for one reason, Mr. Stein. One only: You can AFFORD to. You know how much of an earth-shattering salary I make? 40,000 dollars. Yep, I'm a gov. worker......and therefore obviously rich. Not quite as rich as you though; you who are willing to see me unemployed for the sake of what I choose to do for a living. I have news for you Ben; there is no such thing as a private Police Officer, Fireman, etc...... As much as you despise my existence, there are certain functions inherent to Govt. Public Safety is one of them. So before you go calling for me to be sent to the unemployment line, I suggest you think about those hard workers out there who keep you safe while you sleep safe and sound in your Beverly Hills mansion at night; with no need to worry about money or minor things like that.......
PolishKnight| 6.26.12 @ 10:23AM
When I have children, I'm going to advise them to steer away from low wage jobs for the simple reason that if those jobs were valued, they would pay better wages. Most businessmen do not simply throw money away to their workers to be nice so why should employees work for pennies when they don't have to?
Are firefighters and policemen doing essential work? Sure. But then again, is a clerk at the grocery store NOT doing essential work? Try eating when no stores are open to distribute food. How about construction? If it wasn't for illegals, construction would pay a lot better. Hmmm, maybe that's the solution! Let Obama give those firemen jobs to illegals or the children of illegals! Oh, wait, already happening!!!!
Most jobs are essential in one form or another otherwise they wouldn't be there. A few things we can live without and those become obvious during a recession in strange ways. For example, the cinema. Even though you don't NEED movie tickets to live, people whom are depressed go to the movies more. And do we really need those horrid leaf blowers to rid parking lots of errant leaves?
Back to the topic: Many public employees are hard working and poorly paid but unlike private sector workers who form unions, they can't make the taxpayers bail out their industries when they fail.
Occam's Tool| 6.25.12 @ 2:15AM
QuietPro: Yup, you are necessary, absolutely. As the guy who stabilizes agitated schizophrenics who would otherwise hide in the woods and go violent, I'm a necessary government worker, too.
But the Cowboy poetry guys are eminently cuttable.