I've been in and out of Wall Street since 1949, and I've never seen the type of animosity between government and Wall Street. And I'm not sure where it comes from, but I suspect it's got to do with a general schism in this society which is really becoming ever more destructive.

In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value.

The need for values is inbred. Their content is not.

The very nature of finance is that it cannot be profitable unless it is significantly leveraged... and as long as there is debt, there can be failure and contagion.

Credit-default swaps, I think, have serious problems associated with them.

Amateurs want to be right. Professionals want to make money.

But rules cannot substitute for character.