Recently by Bill Bonner: The Real Victims of Fed MonetaryPolicy
Here’s a shocking disclosure. Somehow, WikiLeaks got a copy of private memos – diary entries, really – written by David Sokol. As you know, Sokol was the man who was the front-runner to replace Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. He was also the man who made $3 million by front running Berkshire’s latest purchase. Both Sokol and Buffett denied that the purchase of Lubrizol shares had anything to do with the former’s departure. The diaries confirm the claim.
“I’m leaving. I’ve had it. I just can’t stand the guy’s folksy wisdom,” wrote Sokol to himself. “Yes, the decision will probably cost me some money. But it’s worth it not to have to spend another day in Omaha listening to the so-called ‘Sage of the Plains.’ Sage? The guy is a boring, old finger-wagger. And if he had dumped all those value stocks and bought gold when I told him to, we’d be a lot richer now.”
And here’s another shocker. Ireland’s premier, Enda Kenny, has appeared to break down under the strain of trying to avoid bankruptcy. He called a press conference yesterday, after Anglo-Irish Bank announced losses of more than 17 billion euros – the largest corporate loss in Irish history.
“I think this has gone on long enough. We tried in good faith to save the system from default and to avoid national humiliation. Instead, the situation just grows more humiliating with each passing week.
“It’s time we called a spade a spade…and be done with it. We all know the banks are controlled by the English. And we all know English speculators were behind all of Ireland’s recent property problems. They drove up prices. They lent money to Irish people. They built houses that were both ugly and unaffordable. And then, when the bottom fell out of the market, they expected Irish taxpayers to make up their losses.
“Well, that’s it. That’s the end. Henceforth, all banks and all bank assets are to become the property of the Republic of Ireland. Bank premises will be turned into useful resources for the people, such as pubs or pizza parlors.
“If a bank owes you money…you are out of luck. You should have known better than to put your money in a bank anyway. Everyone knows you can’t trust them. Especially when the English are involved with them.
“And don’t come running to me telling me that Ireland’s default will trigger a wave of defaults across Europe…and possibly bring down the euro and the European Union. I don’t want to hear it. It was the European Union that got us into this mess. The frogs and the krauts can go f*** themselves.”
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Reckoning.
Bill Bonner is the author, with Addison Wiggin, of Financial Reckoning Day: Surviving the Soft Depression of The 21st Century and The New Empire of Debt: The Rise Of An Epic Financial Crisis and the co-author with Lila Rajiva of Mobs, Messiahs and Markets (Wiley, 2007). Since 1999, Bill has been a daily contributor and the driving force behind The Daily Reckoning.
