I know one guy, he's extremely smart and a very capable investor. I asked him, "What returns do you tell your institutional clients you will earn for them?" He said, "20%." I couldn't believe it, because he knows that's impossible. But he said, "Charlie, if I gave them a lower number, they wouldn't give me any money to invest!"
Mortgage lending became a dirty way to make money. You take people that can't handle credit and try to make very high returns by abusing and encouraging their stupidity—that's not the way I want to make money in banking. You should try to make money by selling people things that are good for the customer.
We have monetized houses in this country in a way that's never occurred before. Ask Joe how he bought a new Cadillac—from borrowing on his house…. We have financial institutions, including those with big names, extending high-cost credit to the least able people. I find a lot of it revolting. Just because it's a free market doesn't mean it's honorable.
If you intelligently trade derivatives it's like a license to steal, so you can understand why they all want to do it…but what is the big plus in having everyone gamble with everyone else? I lived in a world with lowgambling for decades when I was younger and I likedit better. I think it was better for the country. It's like having thousands of professional poker players. What damn good are they doing for anybody?