Ethics Book Report

‘No One Would Listen’ Ethics Book Report

Who in their right mind would single-handedly challenge a man with billions on the line? Harry Markopolos – that’s who! A self-described “wildly-eccentric quant,” Markopolos began questioning how Bernard Madoff, a market maker, could keep his returns so steady and high even when the market was declining. Together, with a team of friends in the industry, Markopolos secretly investigated Madoff over nine years. After three separate submissions of his findings on Madoff to the SEC, Markopolos was beginning to wonder if he would ever catch Madoff. In the end, Markopolos claims, “We saved no one” (252).

I have to admit, I would probably end up very far away from a book claiming to be “A True Financial Thriller,” and although there was no blood or gore in this read, it was actually very interesting. I found myself wanting to continue reading in order to find out all the details of Markolopolos’ secret investigation. In fact, I had actually started off reading ‘The Smartest Guys in the Room” but found it very dull, as it was more about introducing the background of every character in the scandal, instead of telling more about the scandal itself. It is an understatement to say that I am happy I switched books.

Markopolos’ team consisted of industry friends Frank Casey and Neil Chelo. The group would take any opportunity they could to learn more about the inner workings, investors, and anything else they could about Bernie Madoff. However, that was a bit difficult, as Madoff insisted that investors not mention their investments with him. He also refused to allow anyone, including potential investors, to see the books. For Markopolos, these were red flags. In fact, Markopolos discovered several red flags over the course of his investigation. Additional incriminating evidence was discovered when Markopolos got his hands on a list of the supposed trades that Madoff did, however, those trades did not show up on the data feed....