Wrong! Rear Echelon Revelations: Who's Responsible for Russia?
By James J. Cramer
9/18/98 7:28 AM ET
Russia, an outlaw nation, stole the money. Russia has corrupted the whole enterprise. It is masking the work that Kim Dae Jung is doing in Korea. It hides the Thai progress toward opening its economy. It makes a mockery of the restarting of tech plants idled for months in Singapore and Malaysia. It probably set back the Japanese bank cleanup far more than anyone will admit.
And, most outrageous, it kills the attempts by Latin America to grow their economies in an American fashion.
Sure, now the bankers can get together in some room in New York and save Brazil. I wonder if they passed around a gold telephone, a la that great scene in The Godfather II, when the corrupt Cuban regime that preceded Castro's corrupt regime made its deal with the Corleones and the Roths to preserve the status quo.
Remember that moment, when Roth was giving Cuba to Michael Corleone? Someone from our team gave us Russia just like Roth gave Corleone Cuba.
Someone assured us that this nation was a legitimate place to sink money. Some firm sold this stuff. Someone's imprimatur was on the line. It is time for an investigation into what happened to the money spent in Russia and how it got there. What assurances were made by what firms and what people? We are now threatening the rest of the world with chaos because of what happened in Russia. That's wrong! Someone vouched for Russia and made a fortune doing it. Some agent assured us that things were fine there and made a fortune. Let's find out who it is, what was said and brand that conduct criminal. But let's not punish the good guys because outlaws stole the money.
Brazil is not Russia. Sure Brazil borrowed too much. Didn't we under Reagan and Bush? But they borrowed too much to buy stuff from us! Russia didn't buy a thing from us.
Leaders should not let Russia, which once tried to destroy the free world through ruthless repression and totalitarian pain, destroy it through theft. The Evil Empire was evil, regardless of its politics. But find out who from the West told us it wasn't the case, profited from it and then left the rest of us holding the bag. Censure them -- not Brazil and the rest of the free world.
James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and co-chairman of TheStreet.com. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer's writings provide insights into the dynamics of money management and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to comment on his column by sending a letter to TheStreet.com at letters@thestreet.com.
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