Free Republic

For most Americans, the recession hasn't ended. There are plenty of people out of work. The stock market is still a bipolar mess. Uncle Sam is up to his goatee in debt. The nation is pinching pennies to squeak by, and maybe that's a good thing? Because last decade was a drunken orgy of a spending spree. We bought giant, expensive McMansions on credit in the suburbs because everyone in the family needed two toilets. We would eat out all the time at fancy restaurants that served "tapas," which is Spanish for "very expensive tiny plates of very little food."...

Arne Alsin: Smart hedge funds that capitalise on dumb money By Arne Alsin Published: August 31 2007 21:16 | Last updated: August 31 2007 21:16 “Dumb money” is a pejorative label commonly used to describe uninformed or misguided investors. Unfortunately, this label applies to many hedge fund investors who have poured money into hedge funds, with assets more than doubling over the past five years to more than $1,500bn. If people carefully considered the structural deficiencies of hedge funds before investing, most would never invest. Hedge funds are not designed to serve the best interests of investors. They are designed...