The Wizard of Lies

The Wizard of Lies
Diana B. Henriques

Bernie Madoff ran a very simple scam, the classic Ponzi scheme, notable only for how large it was and the number of big names and supposedly sophisticated investors who were drawn in. The only questions left at the end related to the participants’ knowledge: how much they knew about what was going on and when they found out. Wilful blindness being part of the human condition (people “know” and believe what they want to believe), it’s unlikely we’ll ever answer these questions now. As Henriques correctly concludes, in a world full of lies the most dangerous ones are those we tell to ourselves.