--- Brad DeLong <jbdelong at uclink.berkeley.edu> wrote: >
> I did get the impression that he thought that the problems of
> corrupting the financial information stream with lousy numbers--"pro
> forma" earnings, violations of GAAP, places (like options) where GAAP
> are simply wrong--was a very serious one (the main problem being that
> financial intermediaries' incentives are all to boost stock prices
> now, rather than build reputation as honest information brokers).
>
ah bollocks. He ought to get off his high horse if that's what he thinks. All the necessary information to correct for proforma, stock options &c are out in the open, and anyone who has a mind to can prepare their own numbers to their own taste. If they can't be bothered to do so and just take the reported numbers at face value, that's a) a problem of effort or rationality, not information and b) their own lookout.
In any case, is Greenspan seriously suggesting that people weere buying VA Linux and Boo.com at the top because they'd looked at the earnings and didn't think they were too expensive? It's not as if these things were cheap on any valuation basis.
Ah fuck it. A whole load of investments have gone toes-up, so blame the brokers. It's what we're here for.
grr
dd
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