2 Replies to “IRS to give refunds to Madoff victims”
Not that these people don’t deserve some kind of compensation but I have to wonder. What about all the other thousands of people taken by smaller scams the government misssed? Will the IRS compensate them too? Or is this a giant mea culpa for letting Madoff get away with it for so long?
i think it’s unusual for the IRS to take a step like this, and i guess the government is maybe trying to make up for something. i have no idea. not to be too cynical, but it’s all about PR. perception, rather than being totally equitable, seems to be the key. like when one of the bailout companies had company jets, it caused an uproar, so they got rid of them — even though keeping the jets would have actually been less costly (b/c the money was already spent and it maximizes ceo time).
i like the articles talking about how we put too much faith in the stock market and how none of the people madoff swindled were finance people, b/c whenever you pressed for details, he didn’t have any. doesn’t excuse what madoff did, but i find it interesting. and of course, no punishment can really make up for the damage. i mean, entire organizations and nonprofits collapsed, as well as people’s personal fortunes. maybe everyone got him as an indentured servant for like two weeks a year, that could help spread the punishment. id ont’ konw.
Not that these people don’t deserve some kind of compensation but I have to wonder. What about all the other thousands of people taken by smaller scams the government misssed? Will the IRS compensate them too? Or is this a giant mea culpa for letting Madoff get away with it for so long?
i think it’s unusual for the IRS to take a step like this, and i guess the government is maybe trying to make up for something. i have no idea. not to be too cynical, but it’s all about PR. perception, rather than being totally equitable, seems to be the key. like when one of the bailout companies had company jets, it caused an uproar, so they got rid of them — even though keeping the jets would have actually been less costly (b/c the money was already spent and it maximizes ceo time).
i like the articles talking about how we put too much faith in the stock market and how none of the people madoff swindled were finance people, b/c whenever you pressed for details, he didn’t have any. doesn’t excuse what madoff did, but i find it interesting. and of course, no punishment can really make up for the damage. i mean, entire organizations and nonprofits collapsed, as well as people’s personal fortunes. maybe everyone got him as an indentured servant for like two weeks a year, that could help spread the punishment. id ont’ konw.