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MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

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Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

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Ikea’s billionaire founder was so frugal that he bought clothes from flea markets and took free salt and pepper from restaurants

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

3

Ikea’s billionaire founder was so frugal that he bought clothes from flea markets and took free salt and pepper from restaurants

Street Madness

By
Stanley Bing
Stanley Bing
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By
Stanley Bing
Stanley Bing
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October 3, 2008, 3:30 PM ET
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A few minutes ago, Congress passed the bailout, and the confused and psychotic market, which had been up for the day, started coming down. Right now it’s down 200 points from the day’s high.

Tell me if you can figure out this particular iteration of its dementia. I can’t. According to you guys, this bailout is being done exclusively to benefit all the morons, moneybags and slime-buckets who scuttle along on the bottom of our fiscal ecosystem. Now they get what is supposed to be their bailout and what happens? The market tanks.

Tell you what. Maybe we’ll all just agree from this point on in that the Street is not subject to rational understanding and leave it at that. I’ll tell you one thing. I don’t ever want to see another PowerPoint presentation on the subject of how the economy and the markets conform to certain rational metrics. Phooey.

It’s all a big crazy poker game, I think, and there are too many people at the table, without enough cards in the deck to go around, and those cards are marked, and the pot in the center of the table has a ton of markers in it instead of real cash, and most of the people who are playing are out of the minds, either drunk, or stoned, or just plain nuts. And there are no rules except those that are occasionally invoked by the house.

Most of the time, we don’t get a true look at the nature of this game. For the last couple of weeks, we actually have. Let’s not forget the lessons we’ve learned when the merchants of rationality once again raise their voices in harmonious chorus.

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By Stanley Bing
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