credit cards

[Doug Henwood]

Just rediscovered this old quote from Ross Johnson, CEO of RJR in the 
1980s, on "the three rules of Wall Street": "Never play by the rules. 
Never pay in cash. And never tell the truth." Originally in 
Barbarians @ the Gate, it's quoted in Credit Card nation: The 
Conseqauences of America's Addiction To Credit." I didn't read it 
thourougly, just did a radio read to interview the author Robert 
Manning this afternoon. Looks good, even if he did spend too much 
time on the leveraging mania of the 1980s. When I interviewed him 
this afternoon, he thought the coming recession would be nasty 
because people had run up their Visas & MCs too much, and firms are 
under pressure from Wall Street to keep up profits, so they'll be 
quick to lay people off. He's also worried banks and other lenders 
will cut off small biz and other risky clients, adding to job loss.

Doug