The Greed CreedHere we are a quarter...

The Greed Creed

Here we are a quarter of the way through the 1990s and we still haven’t decided whether we liked the 1980s. Consider the debate sparked by Robert L. Bartley’s “The Seven Fat Years,” which challenges conventional wisdom that only Wall Street investment bankers prospered.

We were unable to tackle such a big research topic but did examine one question puzzling us: How many ways can you describe the 1980s as the “decade of greed?”

In a search of articles on the subject, we found at least 46 variations of the cliche of choice.

Presidential contender Bill Clinton gets credit for “golden age of greed, selfishness, irresponsibility, excess and neglect.” Jerry Brown weighs in with “decade of greed and cynicism, a decade where the rich got richer, the poor got poorer and the middle class had the lifeblood sucked out of them.”

Other favorites are the “decade of swinish plunder and greed,” “a time of greed is good, and flashy watches,” “decade of greed that produced flashy, powerful billionaires like Donald Trump and Michael Milken” and “the decade of greed, the era of easy money and the stretch limousine.”

So far, the favorite term to describe the 1990s is “the decade of recovering from the blight of greed and individualism foisted on us in the 1980s.”

The Gekko Decade . . . or What to Call the 1980s Actor Michael Douglas’ character Gordon Gekko in the film “Wall Street” preached an Ivan Boesky-inspired “greed is good” philosophy. He would no doubt be pleased with some of the descriptions for the 1980s. Decade of greedDecade of greed and selfishness Decade of greed and cynicism Decade of greed, grab-it-yourself 1980s Decade of greed with a capital G Decade of greed, cynicism and self- centeredness Me-greed decade Decade of greed and neglect Decade of debt and unbridled greed Decade of greed and excess Decade of greed, glitz and growth Decade of greed, waste and ostenta tious consumption Decade of greed, self-interest and dishonesty Decade of naked greed and profit Decade of indulgence, opulence, ac quisitiveness and greed Decade of greed and preoccupation with self Decade of egomania and greed Decade of greed and flimsy prosperity Auction Action

Lost in the hype surrounding “Batman Returns” was the result of Burbank auctioneer Howard Lowery’s sale of the “original Batman costume worn by Adam West’s stunt double in the famed 1960s TV show and Feature Film.”

Lowery says the costume sold for $9,000. He got the same price for a last-minute entry, the Robin costume worn by actor Burt Ward’s stunt double.

With serious prices like those being paid, obviously the jokers stayed away.

Ross for Boss Update

From the recent edition of “Credit Union Times” comes a Ross Perot story that so far has escaped national media scrutiny.

It says the expected presidential contender was irked at one point in the 1970s by a “loan sale” at the credit union for Perot’s Electronic Data Systems.

Perot, worried about employees going into debt, sent an assistant to the credit union to complain, its former president told the publication. He added that Perot was most bugged by a credit union newsletter with the words “Sale, Sale, Sale” on it.

Briefly . . .

“Hi, I’m Charlie. I’ll be your waiter today”: Former Lincoln Savings owner and convicted felon Charles H. Keating Jr. is reportedly working three meals a day setting and clearing tables in prison near San Luis Obispo . . . A Goldman, Sachs economic report is titled “Growing Less Now, But Enjoying It More” . . . Whoops: The federal Resolution Trust Corp., touting an auction of homes inherited from failed thrifts, advertised on June 16 an open house scheduled for June 13-14.