On 11-10-24 03:17 PM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Stephen A. Lawrence <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
On 11-10-24 01:22 PM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Let us think of Rossi in terms of how he would fit into the
great works of literature and drama. Think of the role that
would best fit his larger-than-life persona. Merlin? Prospero?
John Galt?
Bernard Madoff comes first to mind.
Madoff was a smooth talker who inspired confidence in his
listeners. Rossi says mind-boggling things and before you can say
"What?!?" he yells <meep meep!> and goes charging off down the road.
You can't keep up with the man.
Yeah, you're right -- it's not a terribly good parallel.
The thing which made me think of Madoff is that he apparently went into
the deep end head first with no exit strategy, which was interesting
because it seemed like an insanely stupid thing to have done. Yet
Madoff was anything but stupid. He couldn't exist in a well written
novel; he didn't make sense. And that has always struck me as point of
similarity with Rossi, in a gross way.
Rossi moves fast, but he does not inspire confidence in me, or in any
of the investors I have spoken with. I cannot think of what the
opposite of confidence would be but whatever it is, that's what Rossi
engenders. Fear, confusion, a sense of chaos. An overwhelming sense
that it would be insane to invest money with this man.
Madoff made you feel you could trust him with your life savings. You
could kick back and relax, and let Bernie handle everything. Rossi
makes me feel I would be risking my life just to stand in the room
when he tests his machine. He is like some teenage kid playing chicken
on the highway at 3 a.m.
<g>
- Jed
