Last Friday, Third Point founder Dan Loeb released his latest quarterly letter, in which the Third Point founder redirects the feelings he once had for Ken Griffin on the current administration. Paul Krugman read it and he’s pretty sure he knows why Loeb and, for that matter, all the other financial services employees who donated to Obama’s presidential run have lately been switching teams. Sayeth the Professor:
…they went for Obama because he seemed like their kind of guy, then turned on him with a vengeance because they think he’s looking at them funny. Based on what I know, that’s about right. I talked to some financial-industry backers of Obama back during primary season; they really didn’t know or care much about policy issues, but were in love with Obama over his style — and also over the prospect of being in his inner circle, something they knew wouldn’t happen with Hillary. Now they’re mad because they don’t feel that they’re getting enough stroking.
And you have to bear in mind that this comes after Obama has made immense efforts to placate the financial industry. There were no bank nationalizations; there were hardly any strings attached to bailouts; the financial reform bill was by no means draconian given the scale of the disaster. But Wall Street is furious that Obama might even hint that they caused the crisis — which he does, now and then, because, well, they did.
And as far as I can tell, hardly any of the new anti-Obamanites is thinking at all about what will really happen once John Boehner is speaker. You know, one might have thought that having all the money in the world would make people less petty, less concerned about whether they feel that they’re in the in-group. But nooooo [/Belushi]
We contacted Dan to see if he wanted to confirm or deny whether or not his letter was a result of a lack of “stroking.” Reaching him on the beach in Montauk, he told us he had no comment on Krugman’s theory but did offer that today was one of his “best surf days of the summer,” in case anyone’s able to cut out early today.
Earlier From Paul Krugman: Suck It, BusinessWeek (Paulson, Anyone Who Ever Doubted This BSA*)
what a bunch of crap….wall st. did not cause the crisis, that’s this lying administration telling everyone that. mortgages were in trouble years ago when clinton MADE fnma and fhlmc lower their underwriting standards and lend to people who couldn’t afford a mortgage and it blew up. this blaming wall st thing is really old.
I stroke it’ to the east, I stroke it to the west, I stroke it to the woman that I love the best, I be strokin . .
So, not nationalizing banks = huge effort to placate financial services??
I’m starting to think Krugman LIKES being called a communist.
This blaming Wall Street thing is a total doodfest.
You’re wrong if you think the reform bill is draconian. One time this guy who called himself the Onion King forced me to eat not one but two pounds of onions. Talk about draconian policy…
Clarence!
Truth-talkin like that’s liable to git sum one hurt round here
I definitely prefer getting into Obama’s “inner circle” over Hillary’s. That thing’s more toxic than Lehman’s derivative book
O mighty cognitive dissonance, wondrous to behold.
that’s gross.
Paul Krugman almost makes Frank Rich seem like a moderate and I used to believe that was impossible
Krugman is a whining douchebag, and a guy who believes that repeating the same lie multiple times makes it ever more true.
Krugman is from Louisiana and drives a white 5-series?
So rather than starting from the premise that people who disagree with him (and the administration) may actually be of good will and have legitimate concerns, and attempting to present a convincing counter-argument, the Professor immediately resorts to belittling and denigrating those who disagree with him. Way to stand up for reasoned discourse, there, Prof!
So rather than starting from the premise that people who disagree with him (and the administration) may actually be of good will and have legitimate concerns, and attempting to present a convincing counter-argument, the Professor immediately resorts to belittling and denigrating those who disagree with him. Way to stand up for reasoned discourse, there, Prof!
Barack Obama makes Paul Krugman look like Malcolm X.
No one on this planet is more fiercely protective of cats than Krugman.
nice pussy.
Doesn’t Krugman’s explanation apply equally well to his own attitude toward Obama?
“Wall St. got drunk” – George W Bush.
hahahaha awesome
right off the fox news talking point sheet. wow, never heard that one before LOL
no, not taking out the main bankers in charge, shooting them and billing their families for the cost of the bullet was placating them. They got off easy.
That you, Zhou? Thought you defectors weren’t allowed internet access until after the debriefing.
chappelle reference FTW
Which animal is the normal one?
-other than that, the pizza is very good
what about everyone with a cfa?
We have the clearance, Clarence.
Krugman’s Nobel Prize was as much earned as Obama’s for Peace
cuddling your pussy and/or being the surf nazi in montauk is the new killin’ ‘it.
Killing it with a Capital K, Bob! All arguments are moot at this point! How do we get ourselves out of this mess is the question. Any takers?
http://blog.mises.org/10153/krugman-did-cause-the-housing-bubble/
The man who for more than 2 years demanded that the Fed lower interest rates for the specific purpose of causing a bubble in housing.
Dont you mean all arguments are “moo” at this point?
Krugman is a publicity hound. He only spews this nonsense to gain notoriety in an effort to raise his speaking fees. No sane person takes this asshole seriously and he knows it.
The truly sad sad fact is that impressionable young minds (Princeton students and others) are being poisoned by Krugman’s anti-capitalist bullshit.
To those who know him, Dan’s an insecure idiot who obsesses over how he’s perceived by others, so I think there’s merit to Krugman’s view that Dan’s just throwing rocks because he’s not part of the club. The real talented hedge fund managers keep their mouths shut and their cards close and don’t bother with politics. All Dan does is rip off their ideas and pretend he came up with them.