Mitchell Zuckoff Quotes

• No Ponzi schemer tells anyone exactly how it works. The purpose of a Ponzi scheme is to trick people, to take the money and run.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Running, People, Purpose

  "Meet the man behind the Ponzi scheme". Interview with Randy Dotinga, www.csmonitor.com. September 9, 2011.

  7 Copy quote

• Every swindle is driven by a desire for easy money; it's the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Desire, Common, Easy

  "The Perfect Mark" by Mitchell Zuckoff, www.newyorker.com. May 15, 2006.

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• Sending a book out into the world is a lot like sending your child to the first day of kindergarten. You hope the other kids play nice and that she makes friends.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Children, Nice, Book

  "Amazing Shangri-La rescue story". Interview with Christian DuChateau, www.cnn.com. May 8, 2011.

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• We've suffered a "Ponzification" of the economy in recent years, as bubbles have built up and then burst, and each time we act as though it's the first time.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Years, Firsts, Economy

  "Color of Money Book Club". Live chat, www.washingtonpost.com. January 29, 2009.

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• Bob Altman got nothing from the TV series 'M*A*S*H,' and the royalties for the theme song went to his oldest son, Michael, who wrote it as a 15-year-old poet!

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Song, Years, Bob

  "Color of Money Book Club". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. January 29, 2009.

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• My favorite pre-Ponzi schemer was known as '520 Percent Miller' because he promised 10 percent returns a week, or 520 percent a year. Of course he was just using new investors' money to pay old investors, and soon he was on the lam.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Years, Pay, Return

  "The Color of Money". Live discuss with Michelle Singletary, www.washingtonpost.com. January 29, 2009.

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• Fear is something i don't you experience unless you have a choice. If you have a choice, you're liable to be afraid. But without a choice, what is there to be afraid of? You just go along and do what has to be done.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Fear, Choices, Done

  4 Copy quote

• Nathaniel Philbrick's 'In the Heart of the Sea' has rightfully taken its place as a classic for its literary merits. It has a special place in the cannibalism canon as well.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Taken, Heart, Sea

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• I was researching a different World War II story when I came across an article in the 'Chicago Tribune' from June 1945 that knocked me for a loop. The article explained that a military plane had crashed in an impossibly remote valley of New Guinea that had been nicknamed Shangri-La.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Military, War, June

  "Amazing Shangri-La rescue story". Interview with Christian DuChateau, www.cnn.com. May 8, 2011.

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• I know that plenty of folks have issues with Social Security, but I'd urge them to confront it on its own terms. Calling it a Ponzi scheme is misleading and does more to cloud the issue than it does to illuminate it. And yes, I do know that unless changes are made, the current system is unsustainable. But that doesn't mean it's fraud.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Mean, Issues, Clouds

  "Color of Money Book Club". Online discussion, www.washingtonpost.com. January 29, 2009.

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• For starters, let's dispense with the cheap jokes about cannibalism. That means cracks about giving an arm and a leg - sorry - for a good book on the subject, or similar tasteless - sorry, again - attempts to make the subject more palatable - last one.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Sorry, Book, Mean

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• When running a Ponzi scheme, how does one avoid enormous, unexpected withdrawals - runs on the bank, so to speak - that would pull back the curtain and reveal a little man blowing smoke? One way would be to attract a core of investors who could be counted on to never withdraw more than a small percentage of principal each year.

  Mitchell Zuckoff

  Running, Men, Years

  61 Copy quote

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