The much-maligned idle rich have received a bad rap: They have maintained their wealth while many There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it. Andrew Carnegie of the energetic rich, aggressive real estate operators, corporate acquirers, oil drillers, etc. have their fortunes disappear.

It is easier to rationalize than it is to be rational.

If AIG had tried to unwind their derivatives books. I don't know. It would have hit every institution in the world.

We've actually been pretty good on exports. I mean we are exporting 12% of our GDP now roughly.

Money is not everything. Make sure you earn a lot before speaking such nonsense.

It is unquestionably true that the investment companies have their money more conventionally invested than we do. To many people conventionality is indistinguishable from conservatism. In my view, this represents erroneous thinking. Neither a conventional nor an unconventional approach, per se, is conservative.

I think the FDIC was one of the great inventions of the American.