Institutionalization

We highlighted Professor Siegel's bizarre remarks on here before. He was ecstatic about the valuation of equities using very bizarre valuation techniques and bullish about the underlying economy right before the biggest equity collapse and economic slow down since the Great Depression. Nothing like being one of the most well-respected economists at one of the most well-respected universities and being completely wrong in the worst economic crisis in modern history. Maybe all of American history.

The problem with economists sitting in tenured ivory towers is that those towers tend to institutionalize them. Professor Siegel should get out into the real world every so often. Breathe the air. Mingle with the little people. Compete in the real economy. If the good professor actually had to compete for a paycheck, he might have eschewed much of the false ideology afforded those in well-padded facilities.

Now we have the good professor talking about the markets basking in the results of the sham bank stress tests. Right after the interview the banking index dropped 20%. So much for basking.

It seems many of today's institutionalized cheerleaders simply enjoy the taste of foot.