Ponzi Scheme
Monday, December 15, 2008 at 03:39PM
stickman

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from the profit from any real business. It is named after Charles Ponzi. A Ponzi scheme has similarities with a pyramid scheme though the two types of fraud are different.

Read more at:

Wikipedia - Ponzi Scheme

New York Times - "A look back at Charles Ponzi the Schemer"

Article originally appeared on Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (http://extraordinarypopulardelusions.net/).
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