Might I Interest You In A Tulip, Sir

Last night I was reading through this week's issue (March 5th 2011) of the Economist. In a special section on real estate was an article (Own Goal) discussing the benefits of renting vs. buying. At the end of the article is a little color commentary from hedge-fund manager John Paulson who is exhorting potential buyers to get back into the market. He says,

"If you don't own a home, buy one. If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes, buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home."

I did a double-take. Was this the same John Paulson that (allegedly) conspired with Goldman Sachs to produce a mortgage-backed security that was designed to fail, and then shorted that same security while GS flogged it to unwitting investors? The article does note that he "made billions betting against the housing market". Furthermore, Wikipedia and a brief web search shows only one "John Paulson" managing hedge funds, so I must tentatively conclude that this is in fact the same person.

Now, why would any rational person take advice on the housing market from an amoral grifter who has already (allegedly) perpetrated one multibillion-dollar fraud on that same market, particularly when it seems that he's made another large bet? If, however, you are one of those people, could I interest you in some Enron stock? It's coming back...really!*

Also, tulips.



*snark, really!