Michael Lewitt
The Committee to Destroy the World
Cover image: Burning Globe © Yasuhide Fumoto/Getty Images, Inc.; Blue Globe © Yuji Sakai/Getty Images, Inc.; Torn Blank White Paper © kyoshino/Getty Images, Inc.
Cover design: Paul McCarthy
Copyright © 2016 by Michael Lewitt. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
The first edition was published by Wiley in 2010.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
ISBN 978-1-119-18354-9 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-119-18369-3 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-1-119-18370-9 (ePub)
This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect, persons of poor and mean condition, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.
For historians each event is unique. Economics, however, maintains that forces in society and nature behave in repetitive ways. History is particular; economics is general.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As someone who has spent the last 25 years in the world of credit, I am unduly aware of the importance of acknowledging the debts we owe to other people. Despite the arguments found in the following pages, not all debts are onerous. In particular, the debts we owe other people are gifts, and it is my privilege to be able to acknowledge them publicly.
Many people like to say that life is short, but that is not true. Life is long. It is long in possibilities, long in the people we affect, and long in what lives on after we are gone. Life is also long in the people who affect us. This is my opportunity to thank the people who have enriched my life in ways that I am pleased to acknowledge here.
First and foremost, I want to thank my family. My wife Marcie is an unending source of strength and wisdom and love without whom my life would be unthinkable. I am blessed with a true life partner in every sense of the world, a wonderful friend and a wise and beautiful woman who has helped me accomplish much more than I could have on my own; I owe her everything. My children Alessia, Alexander, and Preston are the greatest gifts in our lives and have grown into warm, caring, and accomplished young adults largely due to the remarkable guidance of my wife. I could not be prouder of each of them.
My parents, Laurence and Roberta Lewitt, gave me the gifts of education, self-respect, and respect for others. They helped make me who I am and I love them very much. My father passed away shortly before publication of this book after a long and active life. He taught me to speak out and I hope that this book and the rest of my work lives up to his example. My brother David is a gifted musician and teacher who makes me proud every day.
My in-laws Lester and Peggy Engel welcomed me into their family 30 years ago and made me feel like one of their own from the first day I met them. Peggy passed away shortly before my father and she lives on in her three wonderful children and nine grandchildren. My brother-in-law Dr. Marc Engel and my sister-in-law Lesli Sugerman have always made me feel like we grew up in the same house.
When I started writing The Credit Strategist in January 2001, I had no idea whether anybody would be interested in what I had to say. Since then, the publication has taken on a life of its own. It has also introduced me to people around the country from all walks of life who have broadened my understanding of the world. I owe a great debt to my readers to whom I am enormously appreciative.
One of the greatest things to have come out of The Credit Strategist is the community of brilliant people to whom it has introduced me and who continue to educate me about the markets on a daily basis while in many cases also becoming friends. It is my great pleasure to thank them here: Peter Boockvar, Paul Brodsky, Gil Caffray, Albert Edwards, Marc Faber, Martin Fridson, Joshua Friedlander, Dennis Gartman, James Grant, Dan Greenhaus, Fred Hickey, Lacy Hunt and Van Hoisington, Ed Hyman and his team at Evercore/ISI, Doug Kass, Bill King, Andrew Lapthorne, Richard Lehmann, John Mauldin, Rafael and David Mayer, James F. Meisner, Russell Napier, Raoul Pal, Lee Partridge, Pedro J. Ramirez, David Rosenberg, Edward Scott, Kirby Shanks, Michael Shaoul, David Stockman, David Rocker, Cole Walton, Peter Warburton, Kate Welling, Christopher Whalen, Grant Williams, Christopher Wood, and Mark Yusko. Needless to say, I alone am responsible for the contents of the book.
I also continue to benefit from the enduring friendship, wisdom, and support of two of the wisest and most accomplished investors of our generation, Leon Cooperman and Steven Einhorn.
I am grateful for the support and friendship of my colleagues at The Third Friday Total Return Fund, L.P. – Michael Shatsky, Steven Artzi, Daniel Goldburg, as well as Perry Lerner, Chris Calise, Mitch Ackles, and Daniel Strachman.
My friends and colleagues Philippe Blumenthal and Greger Hamilton have helped me learn about the world outside the United States and are a constant source of wisdom and support.
I am very fortunate to enjoy the personal friendship of Dr. Paul Belsky, Gerald Brodsky, Fred and Sara Chikovsky, Mark Dern, Thomas Donatelli, Michael Felsher, Warren Greenspoon, Richard Hehman, Michael Kirsh, Donald Kittredge, Thomas Loucas, Jedd and Anna Novatt, Eric Oberg, Michael O’Rourke, Jeffrey Queen, Thomas Romero,