Foundational things, like human dignity, trust, independence, self-reliance, a moral sense . . . things which seem to be fast fading from today’s economic and social landscape, and whose absence, I believe, lies at the root of the current economic crisis we are now facing. Roepke’s proposal was that there is a definite and strong connection between culture and economic systems. As the culture goes, so goes the economy.
Roepke, who almost single-handedly rebuilt the postwar German economy, published A Humane Economy in 1960 - the same year that Bernard Madoff founded Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securites LLC.
Clearly, ol’ Bernie didn’t read the book . . .
H/T to Rod Dreher over at Crunchy Con.
Which reminds me. In a post last month I wrote that I thought Madoff was probably a halfway decent chap who let pride in his acumen get in the way of good judgment. Turns out I was wrong. The Financial Times reports that he probably never made a trade. Unbelievable.
