I admit it, you had me fooled Kramer. You can across as this quirky but interesting guy, who was very fun to watch. I believed that you were an every man's man, who just happened to make it big on television. I trusted you and felt like I knew you. I thought that you were real and genuine. But, alas, you fooled me and millions of others. Once you thought that the cameras were not rolling, you exposed the darkness that lurks in your heart - and possibly all humans to some extent. Now, when I see you on television, you will never be the same to me.
OK, I am not actually talking about Cosmo Kramer from the Seinfeld show (although if the story fits...). Remember his racially-driven, hate-filled, tirade a while back? I will never forget it. Actually, in this case, I am speaking of money "expert," Jim Cramer, from MSNBC's - Mad Money. He was on Jon Stewart's show last night; he and Jon had been going back and forth for a while now, making comments about each other in a pretend but not-so-pretend barb fest. A recorded interview with Cramer was aired yesterday, and Jon Stewart did a phenomenal job at picking at the scab of hypocrisy that exits within the economic world. I am including a portion of the interview below:
Was some of Stewart's anger misdirected? Well, I guess to some extent. But, Jim Cramer is just one of the millions of money-advising talking heads out there, who told us to invest, while at the same time knowing that the "house of cards" (our economy) was on the brink of collapse for years. So, when does advice stop and entertainment begin? In Cramer's world, it seems that it makes the jump when his advice is wrong. So, if Cramer and those like him tell the public some good advice - it is because they are knowledgable. If Cramer tells us some bad advice (like buy Bear Sterns for example), than we can't get angry, because it is just entertainment. It kind of reminds me of that old Psychic Network with Dionne Warwick. But, who actually pays attention to those disclaimers anyway?
1 comment:
It seems to me the greatest challenge going forward is going to be the regulation of things people do out of emotion: fear, greed, etc., rather than the other, far more rational things they do out of logic.
When people are in the midst of making emotional decisions, all disclaimers fall on deaf ears. You have to listen to Cramer, because you know in your gut he's right.
Paying down your massive credit card debt, on the other hand, is far less emotional. You know in your head it's the right thing to do.
It's not the logical decisions we need to worry about. It's the emotional ones when someone (Cramer, your boss at Goldman Sachs, your client who wants a mortgage he can't afford) is yelling at you that became our downfall.
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