As Idiotic As Optimism Can Sometimes Seem,

The Incentive For The Outsider Is To Attack The System Right Up To The Moment He Is Co-opted By It. The Incentive For The Insider -and This Took Some Getting Used To- Is To Allow Yourself To Be Attacked, And Then Co-opt Your Most Ferocious Attackers, And Their Best Ideas. The Effect On The System As A Whole Is To Make It More Stable, Because Everyone Winds Up Working On Its Behalf.

The Irish Turned In On Themselves And Bid Up Their Own Land Prices In The Most Extraordinary Ways... The Irish People Stepped In And Guaranteed The Banks, And Committed To Repay Sums They Can't Afford To Repay, And Essentially Committed Themselves To Generations Of Suffering.

The Institutions At The Centre Of Capitalism Are Bigger Than They've Ever Been, The Pay Is Much Greater, The Ability Of Society To Get Its Arms Around It Is Much Less. The Political Clout Of The Financial Class Is Unbelievable. I'd Say The Story Is Darker Than When I Was There. When I Was There It Felt Like A Comedy - And Now It Feels More Like A Tragedy.

Yet Another Hedge Fund Manager Explained Icelandic Banking To Me This Way: You Have A Dog, And I Have A Cat. We Agree That Each Is Worth A Billion Dollars. You Sell Me The Dog For A Billion, And I Sell You The Cat For A Billion. Now We Are No Longer Pet Owners But Icelandic Banks, With A Billion Dollars In New Assets.

When You're Trying To Create A Career As A Writer, A Little Delusional Thinking Goes A Long Way.