This is my second blog on the subject of Bernard Madoff.  He warrants the extra attention as the capo of capos in the Damaging of Reputation and Trust Club.  You have to give Bernie credit; he thought big.  When he stole, he did not go penny ante.  He "borrowed" what, $50-60 billion?  Let's put this in perspective.  He stole more than the GDP of many major countries - and I'm not talking about Tonga or Djibouti. The GDP of Iceland is $19 billion. The GDP of Afghanistan is $12 billion.  Bernie robbed us all blind.  He also hammered a rusty nail in the reputation and trust given to financial institutions and individuals we entrust our wealth and future to.  Bernie was a bad apple - really a rotten apple - so I will come to the defense of all the fine bankers, brokers and financial advisers I know.  They are trustworthy, prudent, conservative, honest and truthful- many live by the Boy Scout Pledge to be honest, trustworthy, kind, obedient...  You get the picture.  While the financial markets have tumbled on their own-partially out of under-regulation - the last thing they needed was a scandal of the magnitude of Madoff.  Bernie "made off" with more than just money; he sullied the reputation of a whole industry.

Now a federal judge in New York has rewarded him for his boldness with a whopper of a jail sentence.  Madoff will serve 150 years in the federal penitentiary.  Since he is 71 years old, this might be a little like a 1,000-lash sentence in the British Navy.  Captain Bligh was reputed to have the punisher keep right on lashing after the body was dead.  Maybe Bernie accomplices and close associates could serve out the remains of his sentence.  His evil will indeed live after he is gone.  We are told that he won't be serving time in one of those cushy country club jails where the inmates get to work on their tennis forehands and summer tans.  No, Bernie is going to serve hard time.  Now, I do not wish prison on anyone.  Loss of personal freedom at any time of a person's life is a tough end of life bargain.  A cell cannot be a happy resting place to live out your golden years.  But in this case I believe justice has been rendered.  Madoff has been repentant.  He has apologized for his sins, but the havoc that he wrought will live with many members of society who lost their life savings and, in some cases, their very lives out of despair.  The world will always have its Ponzis, Boskys, Milkens and Madoffs.  Every few decades, we see another crook in sheep's clothing - or in this case a cashmere sweater.  When will we learn that no matter what the package appears to be on the outside, it is always a good idea to check the inside?  For this is what really matters.  Trust is not a matter of just money; it is a matter of principal.

To Bernie Madoff, we wish him well in jail.  Maybe he can teach others the folly of easy money from a penthouse cell.  Maybe he will amass a fortune in the billions of cigarettes bargained from his colleagues in the clink.  I suspect they are smarter than us all about spotting a rogue.  They also have the benefit of knowing about Bernie's reputation for sticky fingers.

I will leave you with this one thought.  It comes from a famous ad campaign for Smith Barney: "We make money the old-fashioned way.  We earn it."  We should all follow this advice.