I have a friend who is a rabbi and knows Milken.
He is impressed with him because he gives lots of
money to various Jewish charities apparently, some
of which would probably not be approved of by many
on this list because of their links to Israel. But, I gather
his charitable giving extends well beyond those. My
friend, one of those "hip rabbis," also thinks Milken
is a "cool guy," for whatever that is worth.
Barkley Rosser
-----Original Message-----
From: David Shemano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 8:37 PM
Subject: [PEN-L:7224] RE: Re: Free Mike!
>When it comes to Milken, James Stewart's account should not be trusted.
>See, for instance: http://www.polyconomics.com/searchbase/10-09-91.html,
and
>http://polyconomics.com/showarticle.asp?articleid=1239. Stewart bought
Ivan
>Boesky's version of events, but Boesky actually was a crook and a liar.
>Stewart's version of events was never substantiated at trial.
>
>As an ethical matter, Milken was walking a fine line because he was acting
>as both an investment banker for his clients while at the same time trading
>their bonds. Normally, investments banks set up "chinese walls" (to use
the
>now politically incorrect phrase) between the bankers and traders.
However,
>because what Milken was doing was so novel (financing transactions with
junk
>bonds), he actually was the market. He created the liquidity for his own
>deals. Stewart, and apparently Michael Perelman, think there was something
>improper in this. However, the proof of Milken's propriety is that not a
>single Drexel/Milken client EVER complained about Milken's conduct. And
>remember, part of Milken's ingenuity was to have his clients buy each
>other's bonds to create a market, so if Milken was improperly taking
>advantage, his clients would have suffered. Again, they were not the ones
>who complained.
>
>The ones who complained, as has been stated, were the old crowd. When it
>comes down to it, Milken was a new-money Jew lending money to other
>new-money Jews to takeover corporations run by old-line management. Until
>Milken came along, the mainline Wall Street investment banks wouldn't deal
>with junk bonds, and mainline Wall Street law firms would not do hostile
>takeovers because those activities were so disreputable. Those were
>activities for secondary Jewish banks and law firms. Milken changed all of
>that.
>
>I should note that my best friend is friends with the Milkens. I don't
know
>Milken personally, but based on my friend's report and other reports,
>Milken, while as financially sophisticated as anybody alive, is truly
>politically and socially naive, extremely honest and believes in his social
>mission.
>
>David Shemano
>
>-------------------------------------
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Michael Perelman
>Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 8:02 AM
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: [PEN-L:7213] Re: Free Mike!
>
>
>I don't think that Milken was much worse than most of them. He just saw an
>opportunity and he took it. The crime here was that he sold the junk bonds
>to
>people, misleading them that there was a market. Instead, he set the price
>himself. Stewart explains how he could pull it off.
>
>Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> Michael Perelman wrote:
>>
>> >Stewart is a better place to look for what Milken did.
>> >Stewart, James B. 1991. Den of Thieves (NY: Simon and Schuster).
>> >183: "Because of extraordinary control over the junk bond market, Milken
>> >could buy back securities at artificially low prices from Drexel clients
>> >who had no way of knowing their actual value; sell them to Boesky at a
>> >small profit; have Boesky resell the securities to Drexel at a much
>higher
>> >price; and in turn resell them to Drexel clients at still higher
prices."
>>
>> So that's a crime? Wall Street does that sort of thing every day.
>>
>> Doug
>
>--
>
>Michael Perelman
>Economics Department
>California State University
>Chico, CA 95929
>
>Tel. 530-898-5321
>E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
