Monday, September 27, 2010

Climateer Line of the Day: Oral Sex Edition

From the Telegraph:
"When I see some of them looking for returns of 20 or 25 per cent, at a time when fellatio is close to zero, and in particular in a slump, that means we are destroying businesses,"
-Former French Justice Minister and current MEP Rachida Dati on foreign investment funds.
HT: Economic Policy Journal who writes:
Rachida Dati, France's former justice minister, has no concept of the entrepreneur as arbitrageur since she has attacked hedge funds for earning returns of 20% plus.

In actuality there is no pre-determined "rate" for entrepreneurial profit. It is simply the amount earned when prices in two markets are out of whack and entrepreneurs arb the two markets (possibly over time).

She is confusing profit with interest rates. But Dati's confusion didn't stop there....