I think mr doom wrote a nice piece last week: Bernie Madoff is the Mirror of a Made-Off Ponzi Economy IB/Madoff/Stanford's faked business success all took advantage of no strict legislation to oversight and mark their asset to the realistic market. To not mark to market is just to legitimate the ponzi scheme so that it could keep going. When the market meltdown dries up the inflow of the new money, we just go ahead to take advantage of our next and next next ... generation by issuing trillions of new debt. If all of these bag-holding fund managers on cnbc pumping the bear market rally to suck new money into this scheme are protected, why Madoff should be even quetioned? As the scheme keeps going, so keeps this journal, hopefully.