访谈录 2009-05-01&05-03 金融危机中新闻媒体的角色

I think the way you do that is to show... OK. That's, I, the regulators watch the tape, they realize the shenanigans goes on. They can go after this. Now, they didn't catch Madoff, that's a shame.

 

But why, when you talk about the regulators, why not the financial news network? That's the whole point of this.

 

OK.

 

CNBC could be an incredibly powerful tool of illumination, for people that believe that there are two markets. One, that has been sold to us as long-term: put your money in 401K’s, put your money in pensions, and just leave it there, don't worry about it, it's all doing fine. Then, there’s this other market, this real market that’s occurring in the back room, where giant piles of money are going in and out and people are trading them. It's transactional and it's fast. But it's dangerous, it's ethically¹ dubious², and it hurts that long-term market. So what it feels like to us, and I am speaking purely³ as a layman⁴, it feels like we are capitalizing your adventure by our pension and our hard earned. And that it is a game that you know, that you know is going on, but that you go on television as a financial network and pretend isn't happening.

 

Ok, first, my first reaction is absolutely we can do better, absolutely. There are shenanigans and we should call them out. Everyone should, I should do a better job about it. But my second thing is I talk about the shorts every single night. I've got people in congress who I've been working with to try to get the uptick rule. That's a technical thing but it would cut down a lot of the games that you're talking about. I'm trying, I'm trying. Am I succeeding? I am trying.

 

But the gentleman in that video is a sober rational individual. And the gentleman on Mad Money is throwing plastic cows through his legs and shouting "Sell, Sell, Sell", and then coming on two days later and going "I was wrong, you should've bought." Like, I can't reconcile the brilliance⁵ and knowledge that you have of the intricacies of the market with the crazy (bullshit) I see you do every night. That's English. That's treating people like, like adults.

 

How about if I try it? How about if I try?

 

Try what?

 

Try doing that, I'll do that.

 

Anything I can...

 

That would be great. But it's not just you. It's larger forces at work. It is this idea that the financial news industry is not just guilty of a sin of omission⁶ but a sin of commission that they are actually in bed with this idea.

 

NO, we are not in bed with them. Come on, I don't think that's fair. Honestly, I think that we try to report the news and I think that some people… (A couple of guys do. This guy Faber…) He is fabulous⁷, Faber. (and there’s… maybe two other guy.) He is fabulous. (Right.) And he did… He has done some things that have really blown the cover off a lot of stuff.

 

But this thing was ten years in the making. (Right.) And it's not gonna be fixed⁸ tomorrow. But the idea that you could have on the guys from Bear Sterns and Merrily Lynch, and guys that had leverage⁹, 35 to 1. (I know.) And then blame Mortgage holders¹⁰. I mean that's insane.

 

I never did that. Well, but no… (The network is…)I'm sorry, you're absolutely right. I always wish the people would come on and swear themselves in before they come on the show. I've had a lot of CEOs lie to me on the show. It's very painful. I don't have subpoena¹¹ power.

 

But don’t… but you're pretending that you are a dewy-eyed innocent. Watch, Roll… I mean if I may. (It’s your show for Heaven’s sake.) Just Roll 2:12.

 

No, not 2:12.

 

You know you can't foment¹². That's a violation¹³ of ... (Ferment?) Yeah, you can't foment. (Foment) You can't create yourself, an impression that stock’s down. But you do it anyway coz the ICC doesn’t understand it. So, you, that mean it would, that's the only sense that I would say this is illegal.

 

Now (It’s what…) 2:16

 

Another stock that I’d love you for a focus on right now seems to be Apple.

 

Yeah, Apple is very important to spread the rumor¹⁴ that both Verizon and AT&T have decided¹⁵ they don't like the phone. That's very easy one to do because it's also you want to spread the rumor that it’s not gonna be ready for MacWorld. And this is very easy coz the people who write about Apple want that story and you can claim that it's credible¹⁶ because you spoke¹⁷ to someone at Apple coz Apple’s… doesn't recognize that.

 

1 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

2 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

3 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

4 layman   

n.俗人，门外汉，凡人

参考例句：

• These technical terms are difficult for the layman to understand.这些专门术语是外行人难以理解的。
• He is a layman in politics.他对政治是个门外汉。

5 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

6 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

7 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

9 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

10 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

11 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

12 foment   

v.煽动，助长

参考例句：

• The rebels know the truth and seek to foment revolution.那些叛乱者知道真相，并且想办法来挑起革命。
• That's an attempt to foment discord.这是挑拨。

13 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

14 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。