If you’re gainfully employed in business aviation, odds are you vote Republican and cheerlead for robust capitalism, and that’s understandable. Nobody with a mortgage and kids to educate is inclined to bite the hand that feeds, and capitalism-created wealth is what pays the bills for all of us in this business.
It’s also possible you’re not a fan of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s views, in which case you might have missed his reaction to news of a Wall Street scam that has cost Citigroup a $285 million fine. According to the verdict of the U.S. legal system and reports in The Wall Street Journal and Friedman’s paper, Citigroup palmed off some toxic mortgage-backed securities on unsuspecting investors knowing full well they would be worthless; after selling them, it bet millions of dollars against the securities, and sure enough they collapsed, netting the banking group $160 million. Friedman’s verdict is spot on: “It doesn’t get any more immoral than this.”
