Did Foreigners Cause America's Financial Crisis?

 

Blame China and Saudi Arabia

Much of the fault of the financial crisis has been heaped on Wall Streeters, unscrupulous mortgage lenders and weak regulators. But in a new research paper, economist Ricardo Caballero says there is another major group of contributors to America's monetary mess who are not getting the blame they deserve: foreigners.

"There is no doubt that the pressure on the U.S. financial system [that led to the financial crisis] came from abroad," says Caballero, who is the head of MIT's economics department. "Foreign investors created a demand for assets that was difficult for the U.S. financial sector to produce. All they wanted were safe assets, and [their ensuing purchases] made the U.S. unsafe." 

Caballero, who is from Chile, is not absolving American bankers and regulators. But he says investigators and lawmakers who are looking into the financial crisis are spending too much time grilling Wall Streeters and not enough time looking into the global imbalances that are largely to blame. "What worries me is Congress trying to create new regulations, but not asking where the pressure was coming from to create these products," says Caballero. "In terms of formulating a solution, just looking at the U.S. financial system is not the answer."

A number of economists and policy analysts believe Caballero makes a lot of sense. Alex Pollock of the American Enterprise Institute says it's clear the foreign investors who bought the bonds of mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac served to fuel the housing bubble. Ohio State University professor René Stulz, who has studied the financial crisis, says Caballero has hit on a critical contributor. Says Stulz, "Investors looking for safe investments in the U.S. created a demand for new products that caused our financial system to work differently from how it had worked in the past and to become more fragile in ways that were not well understood at the time." 

Of course, not all economists are buying the Caballero's blame them, not us, explanation of the financial crisis. They say just because there was money flowing into the United States doesn't mean the credit crunch was inevitable. They say stricter regulations could have stopped U.S. investment bankers from creating mortgage bonds filled with risky home loans and then passing those bonds off as safe investments to foreign investors. "Most of the blame for the financial crisis lies in the choices that were made inside the U.S.," says Anil Kashyap, an economics professor at University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Nonetheless, even if foreigner investors' role in America's credit boom and bust is debatable, what's beyond doubt is that this aspect of the crisis is not getting as much attention as, say, bankers and their bonuses. On Thursday, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission wrapped up its second day of hearings. Global imbalances is one of the 22 areas that the panel is supposed to investigate as a possible cause of the credit crunch. But in two days of hearings, which included testimony from top financial executives, economists, analysts, regulators and a hedge fund manager, there wasn't a single question that had to do with what role foreign investment might have played in creating the crisis.

Caballero says that is wrong. His story of the financial crisis begins not in the rising condo buildings or growing developments in Miami or Las Vegas, but in investment houses and offices of central bankers in Beijing and Riyadh. Caballero asserts that international investors, particularly those tasked with deploying the reserves of foreign governments, prefer relatively safe investments, which made the normally stable U.S. economy a natural hunting ground. The money might have gone into stocks, but after the Nasdaq and stock market rout of the early 2000s, investors' appetite shifted to bonds.

China, contending with a huge trade surplus with the U.S., bought more and more Treasury bonds, pushing down yields and making Treasuries less attractive to other foreign investors. As a result, the rising demand for higher yielding U.S. debt opened the door for Wall Street investment bankers to spin out new classes of fixed-income securities, most notably collateralized debt obligations or CDOs. Much of the money raised by those investments was funneled in the mortgage market. That gave lenders the ability to make more loans, allowing more people to buy houses and push up real estate prices. Many of those loans, it turns out, were made to people who couldn't afford to pay. What happened next — real estate bust, foreclosures and Wall Street mayhem — is well known.

How to prevent a similar crisis from happening again is the question that Caballero thinks we are getting wrong. He believes reforming the U.S. financial system is only part of the answer. Foreign investors, he says, need to change their behavior as well. Specifically, Caballero believes the U.S. needs to encourage foreign governments to hold a range of U.S. investments, instead of just funneling all of their money into say Treasuries or mortgage bonds. One way to do that is to require foreign governments or investors who only buy Treasuries or mortgage bonds to place a certain portion of their U.S. investments in an account at the Federal Reserve. Rather than park their money at the Fed, Caballero contends that many investors will choose to put their money into riskier U.S. investments.

"There is a crack in the U.S. financial system, but it's important to ask where the water that caused the crack came from," says Caballero. "The only way to really make the U.S. system resilient to systemic shocks is to fix the supply side."

A Simple Guide To Turning your #Blog into a #Money Making Machine

 

I’ve always blogged for fun, and initially, like most of you, I had no idea that money could be made out of the activity. The fact is, people can earn a living out of blogging, and do it quite easily (after a while). It only takes 4 things:

Knowledge

You have to know things that people will want to learn about and are going to be searching for. Answers to the simplest questions are your best bet. How to blog? How to recover your windows password? How to recover data out of damaged hard drive? Yes, 10’s of thousands of people are asking Google these questions everyday, so you want to give them your best answer right? You also have to be knowledgeable enough in all things web to set up a proper blog. Just starting a free blogspot account to regurgitate your thoughts will not be enough; it takes a lot more then that to turn a site into a resource that will be both informative and profitable.

Persistence

Making money out of blogging takes time. If you want to blog for a living, you must be ready to write new and innovative content consistently (as in 5 to 7 times a week) for many months until you start seeing the fruits of your labor coming in. Yes, there are some exception out there (John Chow is earning $7000 per month after only 6 months), but in most cases, most of you won’t see a penny before 5 or 6 months of hard work.

Exposure

If nobody is reading you, where will you get the visibility needed to attract advertisers? Who will click on your ads? The answer is simple: no one. Being a good blogger involves a lot more than writing great content, it’s also about having good virtual PR skills. You will have to invest a lot of your time reading and participating to conversations on other blogs, submitting your articles to social networking sites and building yourself a large network of like-minded bloggers. Making friends in the blogosphere is the key to success. Friends will link to your articles, put you in their blogroll and talk about you wherever they roam. You’ll also do the same for them, not only because doing this will be profitable to you, but also because you care about the success of everyone.

Some basic english-writing skills

Yes, I know, my english isn’t perfect, but blogs are the realm of the people. Some of them excel in writing, others don’t, but does this stop Google from indexing your pages? Absolutely not. Does it stop people from being interested in what you have to say, as long as you know what you’re writing about? Nope. English is the language of the Internet. If you want to maximize the exposition of your content as an independent blogger, you’ll have to write in English.

After having done all this, your blog will be ready to be monetized. One of the most important things to consider when adding revenue sources to your site is to diversify. Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket!  You need a good mix of “cost per click”, “Cost Per Mille” and “Cost per action” ads. Here’s a small definition of each term:

• Cost per click (CPC): Form of advertisement that pays you when someone clicks on it.
• Cost per Action (CPA): Form of advertisement that pays you when someone accomplishes an action (such as downloading a file or subscribing to a service)
• Cost per mille (CPM): Form of advertisement that pays you to display a banner, button or any other form of advertisement 1000 times.

Here is a quick list of advertising services u should use to monetize your blogs.

• Performancing Ads:  125X125 Ad platform solution. 
• Adsense: The Internet #1 money advertisement program. Allows you to display contextual ads on each pages of your site (CPC / CPA).
• Chitika eMiniMalls : Allows you to integrate links to products or a shopping mall within you blog (CPC).
• Feedburner FAN: A CPM based advertisement network.
• Private advertisement deals: Selling ad space privately isn’t difficult when you receive a lot of traffic and have a good technorati / alexa rank. A few people contact  us from time to time asking about how much we charge for the top banner (Right now, Novell has the spot), but usually, the offers are too ridiculous to be considered.

 

Ways to Make #Money Online:

 

The idea of making money online is attractive to many, primarily because of the benefits it offers. Two main incentives are motivational factors here: The lucrative potential of the internet as well as the personal freedom that comes with working without a fixed schedule or geographic location.

One doesn’t need to suffer through monotonous day jobs which offer poor returns for the time invested.

Indeed, why make $7 an hour selling coffee behind a counter when you can easily earn the same amount by spending 10 minutes to write an article on your blog?

Even if you’re not looking to work full-time at home, the internet offers a viable source of money which can help to supplement your regular income.

Cataloging the Different Ways to Make Money Online

A basic search on Google will reveal many ways to make money online and most of the websites listed in the search results pages all seem to focus on the same methods of making money.

I thought it’ll be a good idea to categorize and compile a list of the online money making methods available so that future visitors to Dosh Dosh will have a reference point which provides them with all information they need.

This list uses a rather broad categorization, which I believe covers most of the ways to make money online. More methods and examples of how to make money online will be added to this list, which can be considered a work in progress.

1. Set up a Blog or Website for Profit

One of the best ways to make money online is to create a website or blog which allows you to earn money from the display of advertisements or the sale of products and services.

There are many different types of money making blogs which will help you to make money and you’ll need to pick a model that suits your interests, schedule and skill levels. A simple no frills blog will allow you to easily pull in at least several hundred dollars in a month through the use of paid blogging websites alone.

Apart from blogs, other websites can easily help you to generate passive income as well. These can range from e-commerce websites, social communities and information portals to basic landing pages for affiliate programs.

2. Learn about Affiliate Marketing and The Art of Selling

This involves promoting a specific product or service and earning commissions whenever the referred user makes a purchase based on your recommendations.

Affiliate marketing is a big and profitable industry that covers a wide spectrum of topics and fields. If you’ve got an interest in fitness, you can make money promoting fitness videos or courses. In terms of fashion wear, you can earn commissions by recommending friends to clothing or t-shirt companies with affiliate programs.

The amount of money you make depends on what you are selling. Done correctly, affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful ways to make money from the web. Amazon, Commission Junction and ClickBank are three of the biggest affiliate marketplaces you can use if you’re branching out into affiliate marketing.

3. Start an Online Business

Starting your own online business or company allows you to make money off the provision of specific services or products you may have. Some examples of popular online trades include web design, copywriting and internet marketing.

It isn’t difficult to start a business. It’s all about hiring the right people or having enough knowledge and connections within a specific industry. You should do some in depth research before you decide to settle on a specific niche for your business. Entrepreneur.com has a good collection of tips on how to start an online business.

4. Try Out Domaining and the Online Real Estate Trade

This is the business of buying, selling, developing and making money from domain names. A domainer purchases many domain names and sells them to interested buyers. This is similar to real estate investing offline and domainers also make money by developing websites and reselling it to a buyer.

This practice is known as site flipping and can make you a tidy sum of money if you know how to build an attractive and profitable website. For a rough estimate of how much money you can earn from site flipping, check out the SitePoint Marketplace to browse through the collection of websites for sale.

5. Participate in Get-Paid-to Websites

There are hundreds of websites out there which you pay you to read emails, do surveys, sign up for trial subscriptions and surf the web. Websites that pay you to complete offers are worth examining because they usually include affiliate programs with recurring commissions to be earned.

The benefit of get paid to websites is that you don’t need to have your own website or any personal skills at all. The downside is that there are a lot of get-paid-to scams around and finding websites that are legitimate can be fairly difficult. Scam.com is a forum you should visit to learn if the get-paid-to website you’re interested in actually pays its members.

There are also several Web 2.0 or social media websites out there that will pay you to participate in their community. This collection of social media websites usually operate via a revenue-sharing system, which allows you to earn a share of the overall ad revenue. How much you earn depends on how much your submitted article, video or image is viewed.

6. Find a Virtual Job or Make Use of Your Expertise

Not only limited to data entry jobs, online jobs in the new economy include virtual assistants, gold farmers, online life coaching and support for open source software. Mini consultation networks like Bitwine and Ether allow you to easily set up shop and offer advice on specific topics through the web.

Most of these virtual jobs involve direct communication through electronic mediums like internet telephony, instant messengers and emails. Which means that all you need to get started is a home computer with an steady internet connection.

If you are an expert in a specific topic, you can offer consultation via websites like Jyve or Just Answers. Other skill or knowledge based vocations also include participation in online competitions in areas such as photography, writing, designing and even gaming.

7. Freelance and Work on a Contract Basis Online

If you have a skill such as web design, programming or copywriting you can offer your services online in exchange for money. Traditional freelancing jobs include transcription, proofreading, translation services on top of the ones already mentioned above.

Online marketplaces that you can use to offer your services include Guru.com and Elance. One of the best ways to find freelance jobs is to visit webmaster forums because webmasters usually require a variety of web-based services, which range from programming and content writing to design work.

If you’re focusing on writing and don’t own your own blog, you can still make some money by registering for websites which will pay for your content. Another alternative is get paid to write for other blogs either as a staff or guest writer.

8. Create Your Own Product and Sell it

Products you can create include website templates, sound clips or even your own ebook. Websites like Lulu allow you to easily develop and sell your own collection of electronic products like calenders, brochures, artwork, images and ebooks.

If your specialty is images and photography, citizen journalism websites like Spymedia and Citizen Image will pay for your images. You can also try using Shutterstock, the most established and lucrative micro-stock photography website. Illustrators and videographers are also welcome at Shutterstock.

This also ties in with the concept of creating your online business, which will allow you to sell the products you create or own without resorting to a third party website which will usually take a commission of the sale.

9. Get Involved in the Online Retail Trade

Ebay and Craigslist are the two of the most popular websites you can use if you are planning to get into the online retail trade. You can purchase products from either website to sell to the other.

Alternatively, you can specialize use site-specific methods of participating in the online retail trade. For example, Ebay dropshipping and arbitrage is a method whereby you’ll with offline retailers or exporters in other countries, or buy from one seller and sell to another.

Future Updates

In the future, each of the points listed on this list will have it’s own webpage with more in-depth information for each specific topic.

Hopefully, this article will serve as an helpful introduction for anyone looking for information concerning ways to make money on the internet.

 

Even more ways to make money online here

How to Set up #Google Custom Search for Your Website and Make #Money

Visitors often visit websites and perform keyword searches in order to find the information they require. One way to make money from this often repeated user action is to display targeted advertisements on your search results pages.

Ideally, you want to monetize while adding value for your visitors and a means to achieve this aim is to use Google’s Adsense for Search, which places text-based ads next to your search results

What is a Google Custom Search Engine?

Simply put, Google Custom Search Engine is a tool which allows visitors to search your website by using Google’s core search technology. This enables you to list search results according to the sites and pages you specify. According to Google, the Custom Search Engine also allows you to:

• Apply your Website’s look and feel to the search results page.
• Provide search refinements within results pages to make it easier for searchers to find the information they’re looking for.
• Make money from your Custom Search Engine by participating in Google’s AdSense program.

There are two main ways for visitors to experience your Custom Search Engine. One way is to direct them to a Google-hosted results page when they type in a search query and the second way is to integrate it by hosting the search results on a page within your website.

Example of an Integrated Google Custom Search Engine

Currently I’m using Google’s Custom Search Engine for Dosh Dosh and you can see it on the top right hand corner of every page. Typing in a search query and clicking ‘search‘ will bring you to a search results page on the left, where the content section is currently located.

Here is an example of a search for ‘make money blogging‘. Note that the Adsense ads appear at the top (this is changeable) and the search results show up below it.

Why I am Using Google’s Custom Search Engine

I am using Google custom search instead of the internal Wordpress search function because I feel that Google’s search results are far more relevant and precise. I also choose to use Custom Search because it allows me to make money from Adsense for Search, which allows you to monetize your search results pages with ads.

A look at my Adsense stats shows me that I’ve earned approximately $20 in this month. It’s not a lot of money at all but it is still an additional source of income, particularly if you are already running Adsense on your site.

Like the traditional Adsense units, how much you earn might vary depending on the ad placement and traffic levels. If you like Google’s search results but don’t feel the need to monetize, set up the custom search engine without advertisements.

How to Set up Google’s Custom Search for Your Site

While writing this article, I found out that SEOmoz had a similar post on how to perform the same steps. I’ve decided to use my own commentary instead, as some readers have been asking me how I set up the google search box on Dosh Dosh.

There have also been some changes (additional features) within Google’s Custom Search function so this will be a more current post on this topic.

Here are the exact steps needed to successfully set up and integrate Google’s custom search engine into your website. This will teach you how to make the search results show up within a designated page on your site.

1. Create a Webpage for Custom Search

Start first by creating a web page on your domain for the search results page. If you are on Wordpress, simply click on ‘Write’ and then select ‘Write Page’. Name the page by using ‘Search results’ or something similar as the Page title.

Leave the text box blank and publish or save the page. Note down the URL for the webpage as you will need to use it later.

2. Create Your Custom Search Engine

Visit the Google Custom Search Engine homepage and click on the ‘create a custom search engine‘ tab. After which, fill in the name of your search engine, along with the keywords. Be sure to select the ‘Only sites I select‘ option and then list your site URL in the Sites to Search box.

Also remember to select ‘Show Ads on results pages‘ if you intend to run ads.

After creating your custom search engine, you’ll be asked to test it by entering some keywords. Type in some keywords related to your site to see the results.

3. Determine the Look and Feel for Your Search Engine

After you’ve created your search engine, go to your control panel and click on the Look and Feel link. This is where you will able to determine the branding style for your search box, along with the style of the search results page.

Choose the right colors so that the results pages fit your overall design.

You can also choose to add a logo to the Google hosted results page but in this case, it won’t be necessary as you are hosting the search results on your own site.

4. Set up Adsense for Search

If you want to make money from your custom search engine, you’ll have to set up Adsense for search by clicking on the ‘Make Money‘ navigational link and connecting custom search with your Google Adsense account.

If you already have an Adsense account, simply check the appropriate box and then type in the email, zip code, phone and location details associated with it.

After doing this your custom search engine profile will be connected to your Adsense account. You can then set up a custom channel to track the amount of searches and money you are earning from it.

Simply do this by typing in a name for your custom channel. For example, I’ve used ‘Dosh Dosh Custom Search‘ as my channel name. This means that the same name will show up in my Adsense Dashboard reports as well.

5. Insert the Code on Your Blog

After you’ve completed the above steps, its time to insert the code on your blog. Go to the ‘Code‘ section of the control panel and select the iframe option.

The new Overlay option will allow the search results to show up in a nifty Ajax-style overlay but unfortunately only the first 8 search results are displayed and you cannot make money through Adsense for Search.

Only consider the overlay option if you are not planning to run ads. After choosing the hosting option, specify the search results details by inserting the URL where you want the results to appear. This would be the page you’ve created in step one.

Then scroll down to the second half of the page to grab the search box code. Take the first code you see and place it where you want your search box to appear. After which, copy the search results code in the lower frame and place it where you want the search results to appear.

Which means you’ll have to paste it on the new page you’ve created.

For Wordpress blogs, simply open up your new page, insert the code in the empty text box and publish.

And That’s All You Need to Do

After completing all the steps above, you should have Google Custom Search set up perfectly for your website. One possible drawback I think of when using ads on the search results pages is that users will click away from your website.

I don’t think this is really that big a problem because users who actively use your website to search for a specific items are people that are interested in your opinion or content. I would believe that these visitors would return to your site eventually.

An easy solution to this would be to run no ads at all. The choice is yours.

 

6 Fool-Proof Steps to Make More #Money With Your Website

Every website has a bunch of web pages which get more search traffic than others. These pages are constantly visited daily by new visitors, people who have never seen the site in question before. I call these ‘money pages’ because they are a reliable source of immediate and future income.

But they’re not just ‘money’ because they bring in revenue: they are one of the easiest ways to grow your audience without much work. If you learn how to optimize these money pages (its not hard to do), you’ll really improve your website in so many ways. More revenue, more members, more influence and authority. Doesn’t that sound good?

We’re always focused on creating new content and getting new visitors to these new pages that we forget about what’s going on in other parts of our website.

This is tailored towards content publishers and bloggers but the main strategies here apply to other site types as well, you just need to find the right tools to do it. So lets get started.

How to Optimize Your Money Pages

There are many things you can do to money pages, in order to make them better or more profitable. It’s important to decide the extent of your work according to your goals and resources. How much time do you want to spend and what’s most important to you? Do you want a bigger readership? Or are you just concerned with increasing your daily revenue?

Here are a list of things you can do for your money pages:

1. Monetize. The aim here is to get more revenue out of each page. There are various ways to achieve this and they generally involve the placement of ads both around and within content. There is also an indirect future revenue from lead capturing.
2. Capture Leads. The money page is optimized to encourage a visitor to subscribe to your mailing list, site feed or register for your website. The main aim is to find a way to continue to reach your visitors after they leave your money page. This helps to grow your site audience and is also a component of revenue generation.
3. Improve Relevance. This involves revamping the money page in order to provide up-to-date information or better content in order to accommodate visitor needs. This provides  an improved user experience for all and can result a host of benefits like more referral/citation links and greater visitor loyalty/trust. Relevance is also important when your main goal is to capture leads or increase revenue.
4. Make it Rank Better.  Doing on-site and off-site optmization will help specific money pages to rank better on the search engine result pages, hence driving more traffic back to your site. This increases your site reach and revenue at the same time.

Step 1: Find Your Money Pages

Open up the web analytics program you’re using for your website. There should be a section which reveals which pages have the highest unique views per month. Extract the urls for the top 10 pages and put them somewhere for easy access. Or bookmark them on your browser. If you don’t currently use an analytics tool, I recommend setting up Google Analytics.

How many pages you choose to optimize really depends on your website and preference. If you have a lot of webpages that get solid traffic, you can do more. If you don’t have many pages that get web traffic, then you have a lesser amount to work with. I like to focus on the top 10 because if its a manageable amount of work for an acceptable returns on investment.

My personal guideline is to only work on pages with a minimum of 200 unique views everyday. It’s a basic number that’s good for some decent conversions. Adjust this figure to something you can work with, if your website is new or gets less overall traffic.

The point to remember is that not every page is hot. The goal is not to optimize every single web page you have. There has to be a limit. So learn to prioritize and work only on the pages that are currently receiving the most traffic to your website.

Step 2: Improving Content Relevance

Visitor search queries reveal what people are looking for and what they want to get from your web page. It tells you what information they expect and is a way to understand their desires or needs. Many are ready to pay for a solution or subscribe to get knowledge in their inbox.

Better relevance = better conversions. It’s that simple. By making your website as relevant as possible to search queries, you’re making visitors more likely to stick around, opt-in or buy. Users are going to click away if they find that your web page doesn’t fulfill their info needs. So the first step is closely examine your money pages in relation to search traffic terms.

My goal is to include every search query in my money page. Every question typed into search engines by visitors who access my site must be answered. One very easy and quick way to do this is to add a simple FAQ to the page to address the visitor’s specific needs. Just phrase the same exact search query as a question. Then write an answer which responds to it.

Another method for search query relevance is to create new content and insert it into the money page. It’s important to edit your pages so that it doesn’t display content that is simply outdated or useless. You’re not going to presell anyone with stuff like that. It won’t work.

Either rewrite the entire money page or include update notes specifying new information and linking to other pages on your website with newer content. Whenever new information or changes occur, go back into the money page to make necessary adjustments. This is one reason why I asked you to keep those 10 URLs bookmarked or easily accessible.

Note that by increasing your money page’s relevance and informational value, you are also increasing its linkability: People are more likely to link to it because it is a detailed and useful reference page on the topic. Whenever possible, I try to fashion my money pages on blogs after Wikipedia in terms of comprehensiveness.

Step 3: Monetizing Your Money Page

While you can monetize your money page and capture leads at the same time, I find it better to optimize for one goal instead of trying to achieve both. Because when it comes to monetization, captured leads are usually a good source for long term income anyway.

There are formats for each goal (monetize or lead capture) and you’ll get better results if you either choose to monetize fully or go all out to hook your visitors by making them sign up or subscribe to your website. If you put up too many well blended ads, the visitor can easily click away instead of subscribing to your newsletter, so either pick one goal or balance both.

Let’s talk about monetization first. This is easy if you’re using ad networks like Google Adsense. Go to your money page and insert an additional ad unit, blend it well with your content and make sure that its quite visible while not being too obtrusive.

A well placed Adsense unit can really increase your overall daily income. I’ve seen a jump of more than $20 a day for a site that I own when I took the time to test and optimize a few money pages. While you may have default ads already on every page of your site (sidebars, header etc), these may not be truly optimized for a money page.

Money pages need to be treated differently from the other pages on your website. They’re the ones that bring a lot of visitors (big sample size) so you can really use this opportunity to test the profitability of specific ad schemes. You can even remove the default ads specifically for this page so you have more room to experiment.

Other ways to monetize include the use of commission-based affiliate programs which range from digital products to established eCommerce retailers like Amazon.com. Clickbank is a digital product marketplace you can use. Sign up, search through the marketplace for a product, grab your affiliate link, insert it on your money page.

You can also try CPA networks with relevant pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale programs. Commonly used CPA networks are Market Leverage, Max Bounty, NeverBlue, PepperJam, Copeac, Azoogle and Hydra Network, among many others. Affiliate programs can work well but remember to keep them related to your content.

Alternatively, you can promote your own products on your money page by including a short pitch for it and linking to a proper sales page. Or you can try to sell your visitors away from the money page by getting them to first subscribe to an email list. This brings us to the next step.

Step 4: Optimizing to Capture Leads

The goal is to capture not just the email of the visitor but his/her permission to allow you to reach them away from your website. For some of you, you want visitors to subscribe to your RSS feed so they’ll continue to read your content or hopefully participate on your site.

Many set up email lists and auto-responders with the aim of eventually monetizing by selling their own products or recommending those of JV partners. Their aim here is to get users to opt-in to receive newsletters or special offers. The same goes for online retail stores.

Good email marketing providers are Aweber and GetResponse, both of which charge a monthly fee that you should be able to earn back easily. There are free alternatives available but you’ll often lose out in terms of features. If this doesn’t bother you, you could try starting with any of the free email software or plugins available.

To optimize a money page to capture leads, you’ll need to do some offer customization. Look at what content/product is on the page and create a specific offer that’s relevant to it. Provide an incentive for someone to sign up: perhaps a free digital product with related or more in-depth information. Or simply the promise of future discounts or special product offers.

To get into the mind of the visitor and understand what entices them, you’ll need to go back to the search queries you’re getting. If someone is interested in ‘what causes wrinkles’, you’ll know they’ll be interested in an ebook on natural anti-aging remedies. Do up a free guide and offer it to them only if they register as a member or sign up to your email list.

How about lead capture for communities and membership sites? Apart from providing incentives you can use teasers. Restrict visitor actions by only allowing them to view a limited amount of content or interact in a limited fashion. This limit will be removed when a user registers with your community. These are methods commonly practiced by paid membership sites, forums and social media sites to entice signups.

Step 5: Sending Internal Traffic to Your Money Pages

Now that you’ve optimized your money pages for maximum conversions, you can also send over visitors from other pages of your site. You’ve already done the work to make the pages incredibly relevant and usable, they shouldn’t just be seen by search engine visitors.

If your money pages are related, by sure to interlink each one so that each visitor is funneled to another optimized page. This not only improves your bounce rate but makes sure that each visitor is given two opportunities to convert if they aren’t persuaded the first time around.

Another method is to use a script to autolink specific anchor keywords or phrases on your entire site to the specific web page. This helps with SEO and is very easy way to get more eyes on your money page. If you’re using Wordpress, try the Internal Link Building plugin or the SEO Smart Links plugin. Both help to auto-link keywords on every page of your blog. There are quite a few similar plugins out there but these two work well for me.

If you’re a blogger producing content daily, endeavor to link to the money pages whenever it’s pertinent to your post because you’re driving traffic to pages that will perform well. Alternate the links to each money page so your audience won’t get sick of seeing them all the time.

There is an alternative way to highlight your money pages: Group the ones about a similar topic together and list them all in a reference page, which will funnel traffic out to different locations. Instead of linking to each individual money page, you can just link or promote the reference page, which will then direct the visitors you get to each money page simultaneously.

A simple example of this is DoshDosh's reference page on social media marketing, which collects both money pages and less visited pages together under a specific theme. There’s also the option of creating special banner ads or images to link to either your money page or the reference page, it doesn’t always have to be promoted in the form of a link within content.

Step 6: Improving Your Search Engine Ranking

This is the final step in the process and should always come after you’ve optimized your money pages for maximum results and set up a method to promote it internally on your site. After you’ve done all that, it’s time to look at boosting a major factor for earning more money: your website’s ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

This is an optional step because if you’re getting a lot of visitors, you’re should already be ranking quite well. But if you’re on the second page of Google or not yet in the top 3 queries for a keyword/phrase that is sending you a good amount of traffic, why not bump it up and get even more visitors per day?

You’ve already got your list of top money pages based on search queries. Now you should find what these pages are ranking for, which is something you can easily discover through your stats trackers. If you’re already using it,  Google Webmaster Central is a free tool that shows you the top 20 search queries visitors use to reach your site.

Off-Site Search Engine Optimization

SEO is a pretty big topic: its hard to cover everything that needs to be done so I’m going to simplify it into one fool proof method of improving your search engine rank for Google. This is something that is unanimously agreed upon by everyone.

All you need to do is get links from other sites, especially with the specific anchor text you are trying to rank for. But not just from anywhere. You want links from quality, relevant websites.

Let’s see what Google itself says about ranking:

Sites’ positions in our search results are determined based on a number of factors designed to provide end-users with helpful, accurate search results. In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.

One more. From Google’s warning on link schemes:

Your site’s ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to you. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity.

It is not only the number of links you have pointing to your site that matters, but also the quality and relevance of those links. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the buzzing blogger community can be an excellent place to generate interest.

Links matter a lot because Google’s algorithm is set up to use the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page’s importance. High quality links boost the trust, relevance and authority of your web page. This is somewhat the same for search engines like Yahoo or Live.

Ideally, the best type of links you can get are from the websites that are already ranking well for the keyword or phrase you are targeting. But these links might not be easy to acquire, since you’re likely to be viewed as a competitor and a threat.

So, what I personally like to do is to do some research on the people ranking for your keyword/phrase on the first two pages. Dig into their backinks by using something like Yahoo Site Explorer and find out who is linking to them. Try to get those same links if possible and even more quality links that your competitors don’t have.

There are many ways to build links, some are blackhat and others are more compliant with search engine guidelines. I favor the strategy of creating valuable services, tools and content in order to attract links from bloggers. It’s stable and works extremely well for every niche out there.

If your money page is optimized for relevance and is high on informational value, it is already a potential link magnet. So here’s something you can do immediately. Send email pitches about your money page to relevant blogs. If you contact 1,000 blogs, you might easily get 50 to 100 extra links (or more), which may be enough for you to outrank other websites. Sometimes all you need to do is to get the word out.

And there are many other ways. Article directories. Blog/web directories. Social bookmarking websites. Social news sites. Social media communities (Flickr, Youtube etc). Contests. Link exchanges. Blog comments and carnivals. Donations/sponsorships. Forums. Press Releases.

On-Site Search Engine Optimization

On top on link building, another aspect of ranking better is on-site search optimization, whereby you make your webpage compatible with search engine requirements and the specific search query you’re targeting. Google’s webmaster guidelines, Yahoo’s Webmaster Resources and Live Search’s Webmaster Center has a list of the most basic stuff you should be doing and ways for you to track your site in their search engines.

Basic pointers for on-site optimization involves having a good site architecture, where pages with similar themes are grouped together with a focus on great navigation and usability for visitors. On site-optimization also involves having your targeted keywords in the title tags and an appealing meta-description, which may affect SERP clickthrough rates. For the WP users out there, you might find this excellent guide to Wordpress SEO useful.

Other on-site factors include keyword density, which is the number of times a keyword appears compared to the total number of words in a page. And latent semantic indexing (LSI), which examines a page in relation to groups of associated words/terms used within it.

I wouldn’t worry too much about latent semantic indexing and perhaps even keyword density because a content heavy page is likely to include the associated terms and keywords naturally, because of its depth. The main point to note is to maintain a tight focus on your chosen topic and not divert too much from it in your content.

And then there’s the controversial topic of PageRank Sculpting: using the nofollow tag on internal site links to optimize the strength of specific pages, thereby enabling them to rank better in search engines. Perhaps a useful tactic, although one that isn’t quite necessary. Any possible success here partly depends on how knowledgeable you are with SEO.

On-site optimization isn’t a difficult process, as long as you have a good site architecture set up from the start and follow search-engine guidelines. The hard part is really the task of getting people with relevant/quality websites to link to your money pages.

Time for You to Do Some Work…

These are the fundamental factors involved in optimizing your money pages. After completing the first step of finding your money pages, you don’t need to work on the other steps in a sequence. As I’ve said earlier, it depends on your goals. Personally, I go through all six steps when I’m looking at money pages that receive a substantial amount of daily web traffic.

The good thing about money pages is that once you optimize them, you can just leave them alone for a while. If you’re busy every day, you might want to spend an hour during the weekend on your money pages. Or just assign them to a colleague or a member of your staff. Set aside some time to optimize them and you’ll definitely see the results.

For more ways to make money online click here

10 Tips To Make More #Money with #Sponsored Tweets

Article By: John Chow

You’ve signed up for Sponsored Tweets and now you’re waiting for the advertisers to order some paid tweets from you so you can start making the $300 to $7,500 an hour I talked about in the easiest way to make money with Twitter post. However, you haven’t gotten one single offers. What’s going on? Here are ten tips to increase your chances of getting a sponsored tweet.

1 – Experience Counts

If you’re brand new to Twitter, then your chances of an advertiser ordering a paid tweet from you is slim to none. Your Twitter account should be at least 120 days old before applying to Sponsored Tweets as most advertisers simply will not buy tweets from any accounts that are younger than that.

The account age is valuable for advertisers to filter out spammers and low value Tweeters. If someone has a high number of followers and just recently created an account it may be reason for suspicion. If your Twitter account is brand new, don’t apply.

2 – Have a Complete Twitter Profile

Advertisers like to know who they’re advertising with. If your Twitter profile is incomplete and still running the default background, don’t expect many orders. You don’t have to get a custom Twitter background like what I used but you should make sure all your information is filled out. Make sure you upload your photo or custom avatar as well.

3 – Add Sponsored Tweets To Your Advertise Page

If you’re going to accept Sponsored Tweets, then you might as well tell your advertisers about it. You can use your advertise page to list the benefits of using your Twitter account to help get the advertiser’s message out. Then you can link to the Sponsored Tweets website so they can order.

4 – Show Some Tweet Click Stats

If you use Hootsuite as your Twitter client (and you should if you’re not) then you can take advantage of its built in stat tracking feature. This is a great way to show advertisers that your followers click on the links you send out.

5 – Turn On ClickWatch

ClickWatch is a program designed to provide a level of protection for advertisers who engage Tweeters in the Sponsored Tweets marketplace. When a Tweeter participating in ClickWatch makes a sponsored tweet the system checks the click performance of that tweet after 48 hours. If the cost per click (CPC) for that tweet is above $1.50 the system will automatically schedule another tweet. The system will check performance again after another 48 hours and make a 3rd tweet if necessary.

Advertisers are lot more likely to order paid tweets from a Tweeter who has ClickWatch on rather than someone who has it off. You can tun on ClickWatch in your Sponsored Tweets control panel.

6 – Monitor The Competition

Wondering if your paid tweet price is too high or too low? You can find out by checking out your competition. Sponsored Tweets maintain a list of tweeters and how much it cost to advertise with them. You don’t have to be an advertiser to view the list.

I’ve made three price adjustments to my tweet price since signing up with Sponsored Tweets. These adjustments help to maintain my competitiveness. Sponsored Tweets gives you a recommend price when you first sign up. However, you don’t have to take it. The best way to set the price is to see what the competition is charging and then charge accordingly.

7 – Maintain a Good Followers to Friends Ratio

When an advertiser views your Sponsored Tweets profile, they’re presented with some key information about you. One piece of info is the Ratio. This show the number of people you’re following vs. the number of people following you. A Ratio of 1 means you follow the same number of people as the number of people following you. It can also mean you’re using auto following programs to inflate your follower count.

From an advertiser standpoint, the higher the Ratio number, the better. It tells the advertisers that your followers are following you because they want to hear what you have to say and not because you will auto follow them back.

8 – Sign Up for a Klout Account

Another stat Sponsored Tweets advertisers see is your Klout score. The Klout Score is a numerical representation of the size and strength of your sphere of influence on Twitter. The size of your sphere of influence is calculated by measuring true reach (engaged followers and friends vs. spam bots, dead accounts, etc).

The strength of influence is the likelihood that someone will listen or act upon any specific message and is measured by looking at interactions across the social graph. The scores range from 1-100 with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence. Here’s the key. Unless you sign up for a Klout account, your score shows up as zero in the Sponsored Tweets page.

9 – Build Real Influence

If you thought that the way to make money with Sponsored Tweets was to build a big list by auto following and unfollowing thousands of people, think again. Advertisers are not dumb. They know how that game works. They’re looking for Tweeters with real influence. That means you actually have to work to build up your Twitter profile instead of letting a program do it. It means you have to get people to follow you because they want to follow you and not because you’ll auto follow them back. When you have real influence, you’ll have a lot of more offers, you’ll command a higher price per tweet and you’ll be able to do step 10.

10 – Apply for Celebrity Status

When advertisers search for tweeters to advertise with, Sponsored Tweets list the stars and web celebrities first. It goes without saying that being listed on the first page will give you a lot more exposure and therefore a lot more offers.

Sponsored Tweets monitors new Tweeters as they sign up. If they recognize your name they will automatically upgrade you to Internet Celebrity. If not you will need to fill out a form. Pass along things like your Wikipedia page, Blog, YouTube Channel or other relevant sites. Having a bunch of followers on Twitter does not automatically make you a Web Celeb. Acceptance into the program requires influence, visibility and marketability.

If you can’t get celebrity status, then asked to be a “staff pick” as they’re listed right after web celebrities.

#Make Money Online: 100 Tools and Resources

Making money online is a dream for many, but the simple fact is that it’s often just as tough as making money offline. Due to requests, we’ve put together a list of the most popular money making methods today, many of them focused on blogging and peer production.

A word of caution: for the sake of completeness, we’ve included a small number of sites that have been criticized for their ethics. If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is. Commenters are welcome to share their experiences of the various sites.

Get Paid To Write

Weblogs, Inc. – Apply to blog for one of their ninety plus blogs or submit your own topic idea. They will pay you per post that you write and you must meet their minimum post requirements.

PayPerPost – Get paid as much as $500 or more a month writing articles and reviews of their sponsors on your blog.

Blogsvertise – Their advertisers pay you to mention and talk about their websites, products and services in your own blog.

Review Me – After your blog has been accepted in their network, they will pay you $20 to $200 per post that you write.

Smorty – Earn $6 to $100 dollars per post you write on your blog. Amount paid for each post depends on the overall popularity and page rank of your blog.

SponsoredReviews – Write reviews for their advertisers’ products and services on your own blog. They charge a 35% transaction fee for their services.

LoudLaunch – Blog about the advertisers campaign releases that meet your interests. They pay once a month.

Blogitive – Get paid weekly via PayPal for posting stories that interest you.

BloggerWave – Select the advertiser opportunities that best suit your blog and write reviews on their products and services.

InBlogAds – Write about websites, products, services and companies on your blog and get paid for it.

BlogToProfit – Make $250 dollars or more by writing new posts on your blog.

Creative Weblogging – Write 7 to 10 posts per week for their network and they will pay you $225 per month.

WordFirm – Make money publishing books as a freelance writer from home.

451 Press – Write for a blog within their network and receive forty percent of all generated revenue.

Digital Journal – Network of bloggers that get paid to report on newsworthy articles through their blogs.

BlogBurner – Sign up for a free blog and get paid for writing new posts. Your commissions are generated through Adsense clicks.

Squidoo – Earn money by writing your new blog, or choose to donate your earnings to charity.

About.com – Become a paid guide writing articles for About.com. Compensation depends on the growth of your page views.

DayTipper – Earn $3 for every short tip you write and get published.

Helium – Earn a share of their advertising revenue by writing articles in their channels.

Dewitts Media – Get paid to write your own blog. This site requires you have a minimum page rank of 3 to sign up.

BOTW Media – Make money writing a blog for their blogging network.

CreamAid – Get paid to submit blog posts in their directory.

BlogFeast – Generate revenue from pre-installed Google Adsense ads when you blog in their network.

Mashable – Mashable hires freelancers and new staff, offering one of the largest platforms for tech bloggers.

Advertising Programs

Google Adsense – Most popular pay-per-click advertising provider. Make anywhere from $0.01 to $5.00 plus per click on site relevant ads.

Text-Link-Ads – Approve or deny the advertiser links that appear on your site. They pay you 50% of the sale price for each text link sold on your website.

BlogAds – The average blogger makes anywhere from $50 to $5000 dollars a month selling blog ads. To participate in this program you will need to get sponsored by someone in their network.

LinkWorth – Here you will find eleven different options to fit your advertising needs. Choose from text based advertisements, sponsored ads and paid blog reviews to name a few.

CrispAds – Access to over six thousand advertisers in their pay-per-click program. You choose the advertisers that suit you best.

Chitika – Offers six types of advertising to fit your needs.

AzoogleAds – Delivers targeted advertisers to their network of publishers to bring you the most profitable solutions.

Vibrant Media – Offers in-text contextual based advertisements.

MediaFed – Place advertisements in your blog’s RSS feed to generate additional revenue.

Qumana – Embeds ads directly into your posts. Ads are generated from keywords that you select. Not particularly popular with readers.

PeakClick – Austria based pay-per-click provider. Provides automatic insertion of site targeted ads.

DoubleClick – Offers a full suite of products for publishers that enable you to forecast, sell inventory, serve ads and analyze campaigns online and through other digital channels.

Tribal Fusion – They offer reliable payments, free ad-serving technology, a dedicated account manager and up-to-date, real-time reporting, with a 55% payout. Must go through an approval process.

AdBrite – Approve or reject any ads purchased for your sites. Also gives you the ability to sell ads direct with “Your Ad Here” links.

ThankYouPages – Shows ads based on demographics and relevancy. Majority of traffic must originate from U.S.

Clicksor – Inline text link advertising, underlines words directly in your posts making them clickable advertisements. Once more, we’d say that inline ads are not popular with regular blog readers.

TargetPoint – Contextually and search targeted pay-per-click ads.

IndustryBrains – Place relevant contextual text listings and graphical ads on your site.

BloggingAds – Post one-time ads on your site. Pays via PayPal.

BulletAds – Performance based online advertising network.

AdsMarket – Match your traffic to handpicked advertisers with top-converting products and services.

ROIRocket – Targeted campaigns specific to your marketing needs.

AdKnowledge – Offers complete outsourcing of your advertising management. Runs ads in websites, email and search engine inventory.

Yes Advertising – Payouts for running ads from their sponsors. Also offers a referral program that pays 20% of the referred webmasters earnings.

RevenuePilot – Offers pay-for-performance and pay-per-click advertising for your sites.

SearchFeed – Integrates paid advertisements into your site’s search feature.

Bidvertiser – Display text ads on your site and advertisers bid for placement.

Pheedo – Monetize your RSS feeds with this program.

ValueClick media – Generate revenue by displaying ads through banners, pop-unders and rich media. Be warned that pop-unders are unpopular these days.

OneMonkey – Another text based advertising program.

Yahoo Publisher Network – Use the internet giant, Yahoo, to display targeted ads on your site.

Q Ads – Monetize your site by placing ads anywhere you can add a picture.

Affiliate Networks and Programs

Amazon Associates – Link to Amazon’s products and services and earn up to 10% of the sale price. Converts well for product-focused sites.

ClickBank – Over 10,000 products to promote with commissions as high as 75%.

Commission Junction – Promote the advertiser’s products and services in exchange for a commission on leads or sales.

LinkShare – Pay-for-performance affiliate marketing network. Gives you the ability to use individual product links on your site and generate revenue from sales.

Affiliate Fuel – Serves as a middle man to bring publishers and advertisers together to promote products and services.

LinkConnector – Affiliate marketing network that offers a zero tolerance fraud policy to keep you safe while conducting business.

LeadPile – Affiliate network that allows you to generate and sell trade leads to the highest bidder.

Forex-Affiliate – Affiliate program that allows you to earn commissions from trading Forex (currency exchange) online.

incentAclick – CPA (cost-per-action) affiliate program that guarantees the fastest ROI in the industry.

AdPlosion – Earn revenue by selling leads, clicks and products from their advertisers. Also runs an incentive points program in addition to your commissions.

AffiliateFuture – Another affiliate program that pays you for generating leads, sales and clicks.

ClixGalore – Affiliate network consisting of 7500+ advertisers for you to choose from.

ThinkAction – Affiliate network that claims to have the top payouts and the possibility of earning over $100,000 dollars per month.

RocketProfit – Affiliate network, pays via check after your commissions reach $25 dollars.

CafePress – Earn affiliate commissions by selling your personally branded merchandise.

Avangate – Make money selling popular computer software titles through your site.

Paid Social Media Programs

Dada.net – Social site with a revenue sharing program that pays you for referring friends and driving traffic.

Jyve – Pays you to provide answers, advice and peer support to people in need of some help.

Cruxy – Specializes in social video, but serves as a venue to sell your digital media.

BitWine – Get paid to give advice and answer questions for people, on subjects of your interests and choice.

Ether – Make money answering questions for your peers over the phone. You set your rates and call availability.

UpBlogger – Social network site that pays you based on the amount of visits you receive to your uploaded content.

JustAnswer – Help others solve their problems and earn money for your knowledge.

MetaCafe – Upload your videos and earn money based on the number of views you receive.

ChaCha – Get paid to offer support to members of their community.

AssociatedContent – Earn money by uploading your videos, text, audio and images to their site. Earnings are determined by the exposure you receive from your content.

myLot – Pays you for posting, commenting and using their social network.

KnowBrainers – Another site that pays you to get involved with the community and answer questions. Optionally you can answer questions through the RSS feeds on your own blog.

Everything Else That Pays

Google User Research – Google Pays you money to participate in their user research studies online.

Microsoft Research Panel – Get paid from Microsoft for providing feedback on their products.

Amazon Mechanical Turk – Amazon pays you to complete simple tasks that their computers can’t understand. Payments are a matter of cents.

eJury – Earn $5 to $10 dollars per verdict rendered as a mock juror for practice trials.

WorkingSOL – This company pays you to handle technical support for many large companies. You can work from home on the computer or by phone and decide what times you are available.

Appingo – Always looking for experienced copy editors and proof readers. Must submit a resume.

IntelliShop – Pays you to shop at stores in your area and write a review of your experience.

Mahalo Greenhouse – They pay $10 to $15 dollars per site you submit to their directory.

Focus Pointe Global – Get paid to join their focus groups and voice your opinion. Available to teens and adults.

Agloco – Sign up, download their toolbar and get paid to surf the internet. This site has been criticized as a “pyramid scheme”, although the founders deny the allegation.

Arise – Make money providing phone, web and email support and sales for 40 plus companies in their network.

CraZoo – Earn money for starting new threads and posting in online forums.

Tutor.com – Get paid to tutor people online.

ForumBoosting.com – Make money posting in forums across the internet.

Share-A-Pic – Earn money by uploading and sharing your pictures on their website.

Opuzz Voice – Earn money by doing voice overs for their clients online.

SlashMySearch – Get paid to search the internet with their search engine.

More ways to make money online here

25 People to Blame for the #Financial Crisis

Who to Blame? Who to Blame? that's what we always want to know and it's one that the world is wondering in regard to the messy financial crisis, if you look closely there's lots of people to blame really, some more than others, so here's a list of people to blame when your pissed off that your dollar doesn't go nearly as far as it did before this or when your house is about to be foreclosed on here's some people to blame for the mess we're in.

 

 

Angelo Mozilo

The son of a butcher, Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and built it into the largest mortgage lender in the U.S. Countrywide wasn't the first to offer exotic mortgages to borrowers with a questionable ability to repay them. In its all-out embrace of such sales, however, it did legitimize the notion that practically any adult could handle a big fat mortgage. In the wake of the housing bust, which toppled Countrywide and IndyMac Bank (another company Mozilo started), the executive's lavish pay package was criticized by many, including Congress. Mozilo left Countrywide last summer after its rescue-sale to Bank of America. A few months later, BofA said it would spend up to $8.7 billion to settle predatory lending charges against Countrywide filed by 11 state attorneys general.

 

 

 

 

 

Phil Gramm

As chairman of theSenate Banking Committee from 1995 through 2000, Gramm was Washington's most prominent and outspoken champion of financial deregulation. He played a leading role in writing and pushing through Congress the 1999 repeal of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial banks from Wall Street. He also inserted a key provision into the 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act that exempted over-the-counter derivatives like credit-default swaps from regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Credit-default swaps took down AIG, which has cost the U.S. $150 billion thus far.

 

 

 

Alan Greenspan

The Federal Reserve chairman — an economist and a disciple of libertarian icon Ayn Rand — met his first major challenge in office by preventing the 1987 stock-market crash from spiraling into something much worse. Then, in the 1990s, he presided over a long economic and financial-market boom and attained the status of Washington's resident wizard. But the super-low interest rates Greenspan brought in the early 2000s and his long-standing disdain for regulation are now held up as leading causes of the mortgage crisis. The maestro admitted in an October congressional hearing that he had "made a mistake in presuming" that financial firms could regulate themselves.

 

 

Chris Cox

The ex-SEC chief's blindness to repeated allegations of fraud in the Madoff scandal is mind-blowing, but it's really his lax enforcement that lands him on this list. Cox says his agency lacked authority to limit the massive leveraging that set up last year's financial collapse. In truth, the SEC had plenty of power to go after big investment banks like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch for better disclosure, but it chose not to. Cox oversaw the dwindling SEC staff and a sharp drop in action against some traders.

 

 

American Consumers

In the third quarter of 2008, Americans began saving more and spending less. Hurrah! That only took 40 years to happen. We've been borrowing, borrowing, borrowing — living off and believing in the wealth effect, first in stocks, which ended badly, then in real estate, which has ended even worse. Now we're out of bubbles. We have a lot less wealth — and a lot more effect. Household debt in the U.S. — the money we owe as individuals — zoomed to more than 130% of income in 2007, up from about 60% in 1982. We enjoyed living beyond our means — no wonder we wanted to believe it would never end

 

 

Hank Paulson

When Paulson left the top job at Goldman Sachs to become Treasury Secretary in 2006, his big concern was whether he'd have an impact. He ended up almost single-handedly running the country's economic policy for the last year of the Bush Administration. Impact? You bet. Positive? Not yet. The three main gripes against Paulson are that he was late to the party in battling the financial crisis, letting Lehman Brothers fail was a big mistake and the big bailout bill he pushed through Congress has been a wasteful mess.

 

 

Joe Cassano

Before the financial-sector meltdown, few people had ever heard of credit-default swaps (CDS). They are insurance contracts — or, if you prefer, wagers — that a company will pay its debt. As a founding member of AIG's financial-products unit, Cassano, who ran the group until he stepped down in early 2008, knew them quite well. In good times, AIG's massive CDS-issuance business minted money for the insurer's other companies. But those same contracts turned out to be at the heart of AIG's downfall and subsequent taxpayer rescue. So far, the U.S. government has invested and lent $150 billion to keep AIG afloat.

 

Ian McCarthy

Homebuilders had plenty to do with the collapse of the housing market, not just by building more homes than the country could stomach, but also by pressuring people who couldn't really afford them to buy in. As CEO of Beazer Homes since 1994, McCarthy has become something of a poster child for the worst builder behaviors. An investigative series that ran in the Charlotte Observer in 2007 highlighted Beazer's aggressive sales tactics, including lying about borrowers' qualifications to help them get loans. The FBI, Department of Housing and Urban Development and IRS are all investigating Beazer. The company has admitted that employees of its mortgage unit violated regulations — like down-payment-assistance rules —at least as far back as 2000. It is cooperating with federal investigators.

 

 

Frank Raines

The mess that Fannie Mae has become is the progeny of many parents: Congress, which created Fannie in 1938 and loaded it down with responsibilities; President Lyndon Johnson, who in 1968 pushed it halfway out the government nest and into a problematic part-private, part-public role in an attempt to reduce the national debt; and Jim Johnson, who presided over Fannie's spectacular growth in the 1990s. But it was Johnson's successor, Raines, who was at the helm when things really went off course. A former Clinton Administration Budget Director, Raines was the first African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company when he took the helm in 1999. He left in 2004 with the company embroiled in an accounting scandal just as it was beginning to make big investments in subprime mortgage securities that would later sour. Last year Fannie and rival Freddie Mac became wards of the state.

 

 

Kathleen Corbet

By slapping AAA seals of approval on large portions of even the riskiest pools of loans, rating agencies helped lure investors into loading on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that are now unsellable. Corbet ran the largest agency, Standard & Poor's, during much of this decade, though the other two major players, Moody's and Fitch, played by similar rules. How could a ratings agency put its top-grade stamp on such flimsy securities? A glaring conflict of interest is one possibility: these outfits are paid for their ratings by the bond issuer. As one S&P analyst wrote in an email, "[A bond] could be structured by cows and we would rate it."

 

 

Dick Fuld

The Gorilla of Wall Street, as Fuld was known, steered Lehman deep into the business of subprime mortgages, bankrolling lenders across the country that were making convoluted loans to questionable borrowers. Lehman even made its own subprime loans. The firm took all those loans, whipped them into bonds and passed on to investors billions of dollars of what is now toxic debt. For all this wealth destruction, Fuld raked in nearly $500 million in compensation during his tenure as CEO, which ended when Lehman did.

 

 

Marion and Herb Sandler

In the early 1980s, the Sandlers' World Savings Bank became the first to sell a tricky home loan called the option ARM. And they pushed the mortgage, which offered several ways to back-load your loan and thereby reduce your early payments, with increasing zeal and misleading advertisements over the next two decades. The couple pocketed $2.3 billion when they sold their bank to Wachovia in 2006. But losses on World Savings' loan portfolio led to the implosion of Wachovia, which was sold under duress late last year to Wells Fargo.

 

 

 

Bill Clinton

President Clinton's tenure was characterized by economic prosperity and financial deregulation, which in many ways set the stage for the excesses of recent years. Among his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. It is the subject of heated political and scholarly debate whether any of these moves are to blame for our troubles, but they certainly played a role in creating a permissive lending environment.

 

 

George W. Bush

From the start, Bush embraced a governing philosophy of deregulation. That trickled down to federal oversight agencies, which in turn eased off on banks and mortgage brokers. Bush did push early on for tighter controls over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but he failed to move Congress. After the Enron scandal, Bush backed and signed the aggressively regulatory Sarbanes-Oxley Act. But SEC head William Donaldson tried to boost regulation of mutual and hedge funds, he was blocked by Bush's advisers at the White House as well as other powerful Republicans and quit. Plus, let's face it, the meltdown happened on Bush's watch.

 

 

Stan O'Neal

Merrill Lynch's celebrated CEO for nearly six years, ending in 2007, he guided the firm from its familiar turf — fee businesses like asset management — into the lucrative game of creating collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), which were largely made of subprime mortgage bonds. To provide a steady supply of the bonds — the raw pork for his booming sausage business —O'Neal allowed Merrill to load up on the bonds and keep them on its books. By June 2006, Merrill had amassed $41 billion in subprime CDOs and mortgage bonds, according to Fortune. As the subprime market unwound, Merrill went into crisis, and Bank of America swooped in to buy it.

 

 

Wen Jiabao

Think of Wen as a proxy for the Chinese government — particularly those parts of it that have supplied the U.S. with an unprecedented amount of credit over the past eight years. If cheap credit was the crack cocaine of this financial crisis — and it was — then China was one of its primary dealers. China is now the largest creditor to the U.S. government, holding an estimated $1.7 trillion in dollar-denominated debt. That massive build-up in dollar holdings is specifically linked to China's efforts to control the value of its currency. China didn't want the renminbi to rise too rapidly against the dollar, in part because a cheap currency kept its export sector humming — which it did until U.S. demand cratered last fall.

 

 

David Lereah

When the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, an industry trade group, tells you the housing market is going to keep on chugging forever, you listen with a grain of salt. But Lereah, who held the position through early 2007, did more than issue rosy forecasts. He regularly trumpeted the infallibility of housing as an investment in interviews, on TV and in his 2005 book, Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?. Lereah says he grew concerned about the direction of the market in 2006, but consider his January 2007 statement: "It appears we have established a bottom."

 

 

John Devaney

Hedge funds played an important role in the shift to sloppy mortgage lending. By buying up mortgage loans, Devaney and other hedge-fund managers made it profitable for lenders to make questionable loans and then sell them off. Hedge funds were more than willing to swallow the risk in exchange for the promise of fat returns. Devaney wasn't just a big buyer of mortgage bonds — he had his own $600 million fund devoted to buying risky loans — he was one of its cheerleaders. Worse, Devaney knew the loans he was funding were bad for consumers. In early 2007, talking about option ARM mortgages, he told Money, "The consumer has to be an idiot to take on one of those loans, but it has been one of our best-performing investments."

 

 

 

Bernie Madoff

His alleged Ponzi scheme could inflict $50 billion in losses on society types, retirees and nonprofits. The bigger cost for America comes from the notion that Madoff pulled off the biggest financial fraud in history right under the noses of regulators. Assuming it's all true, the banks and hedge funds that neglected due diligence were stupid and paid for it, while the managers who fed him clients' money — the so-called feeders — were reprehensibly greedy. But to reveal government and industry regulators as grossly incompetent casts a shadow of doubt far and wide, which crimps the free flow of investment capital. That will make this downturn harder on us all.

 

 

Lew Ranieri

Meet the father of mortgage-backed bonds. In the late 1970s, the college dropout and Salomon trader coined the term securitization to name a tidy bit of financial alchemy in which home loans were packaged together by Wall Street firms and sold to institutional investors. In 1984 Ranieri boasted that his mortgage-trading desk "made more money than all the rest of Wall Street combined." The good times rolled: as homeownership exploded in the early '00s, the mortgage-bond business inflated Wall Street's bottom line. So the firms placed even bigger bets on these securities. But when subprime borrowers started missing payments, the mortgage market stalled and bond prices collapsed. Investment banks, overexposed to the toxic assets, closed their doors. Investors lost fortunes.

 

 

Burton Jablin

The programming czar at Scripps Networks, which owns HGTV and other lifestyle channels, helped inflate the real estate bubble by teaching viewers how to extract value from their homes. Programs like Designed to Sell, House Hunters and My House Is Worth What? developed loyal audiences, giving the housing game glamour and gusto. Jablin didn't act alone: shows like Flip That House (TLC) and Flip This House (A&E) also came on the scene. To Jablin's credit, HGTV, which airs in more than 97 million homes, also launched Income Property, a show that helps first-time homeowners reduce mortgage payments by finding ways to economically add rental units.

 

 

Fred Goodwin

For years, the worst moniker you heard thrown at Goodwin, the former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), was "Fred the Shred," on account of his knack for paring costs. A slew of acquisitions changed that, and some RBS investors saw him as a megalomaniac. Commentators have since suggested that Goodwin is simply "the world's worst banker." Why so mean? The face of over-reaching bankers everywhere, Goodwin got greedy. More than 20 takeovers helped him transform RBS into a world beater after he assumed control in 2000. But he couldn't stop there. As the gloom gathered in 2007, Goodwin couldn't resist leading a $100 billion takeover of Dutch rival ABN Amro, stretching RBS's capital reserves to the limit. The result: the British government last fall pumped $30 billion into the bank, which expects 2008 losses to be the biggest in U.K. corporate history.

 

 

Sandy Weill

Who decided banks had to be all things to all customers? Weill did. Starting with a low-end lender in Baltimore, he cobbled together the first great financial supermarket, Citigroup. Along the way, Weill's acquisitions (Smith Barney, Travelers, etc.) and persistent lobbying shattered Glass-Steagall, the law that limited the investing risks banks could take. Rivals followed Citi. The swollen banks are now one of the country's major economic problems. Every major financial firm seems too big to fail, leading the government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to keep them afloat. The biggest problem bank is Weill's Citigroup. The government has already spent $45 billion trying to fix it.

 

 

David Oddsson

In his two decades as Iceland's Prime Minister and then as central-bank governor, Oddsson made his tiny country an experiment in free-market economics by privatizing three main banks, floating the currency and fostering a golden age of entrepreneurship. When the market turned ... whoops! Iceland's economy is now a textbook case of macroeconomic meltdown. The three banks, which were massively leveraged, are in receivership, GDP could drop 10% this year, and the IMF has stepped in after the currency lost more than half its value. Nice experiment.

 

 

Jimmy Cayne

Plenty of CEOs screwed up on Wall Street. But none seemed more asleep at the switch than Bear Stearns' Cayne. He left the office by helicopter for 3 ½-day golf weekends. He was regularly out of town at bridge tournaments and reportedly smoked pot. (Cayne denies the marijuana allegations.) Back at the office, Cayne's charges bet the firm on risky home loans. Two of its highly leveraged hedge funds collapsed in mid-2007. But that was only the beginning. Bear held nearly $40 billion in mortgage bonds that were essentially worthless. In early 2008 Bear was sold to JPMorgan for less than the value of its office building. "I didn't stop it. I didn't rein in the leverage," Cayne later told Fortune.

 

 

 

 

Top 20 Earners in #Hip Hop For 2009

The past year has been even crueler to rap than it's been to Wall Street. Over the past 12 months, hip-hop's top 20 earners banked $300 million, down 40% from a year ago. The culprit: declining record sales and the disappearance of the mega-deals that once enriched hip-hop stars and corporate executives alike. Still, rising stars like Akon and T-Pain continue to brighten the hip-hop firmament, finding ever more creative ways to make money.

How We Get the Numbers

The Forbes Hip-Hop Cash Kings list includes male recording artists whose work is primarily classified as hip-hop or rap. Their female counterparts can be found on our Cash Queens of Music list. Earnings estimates, which include income from record sales, digital downloads, touring, films, TV shows, endorsements, books and other entertainment ventures, are calculated between June 2008 and June 2009. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted.

In order to determine our list, we interviewed numerous sources within the music industry--including lawyers, media buyers and many of the artists themselves. We also conducted research via Billboard, Pollstar, Nielsen SoundScan and the Recording Industry Association of America, among others.

 

 

 

20. Jay "Young Jeezy" Jenkins

$6 million, tie

Prescient rapper released album The Recession last September; the record debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, sold a quarter million copies in its first week and earned Jeezy a Grammy nomination. Has appeared on hit songs by other artists including fellow Cash King Akon. Earned publicity for his feud with Bill O'Reilly over his performance at a concert celebrating Obama's inauguration.

 

20. Jayceon "The Game" Taylor

$6 million, tie

Not to be confused with the Harvard-Yale football game, hip-hop's The Game released LAX, his third studio album, last August. The record has sold nearly 750,000 copies to date. Outside of music, he plugs Skechers, Kangol and British apparel outfit Lonsdale. Film credits include a role in low-budget action flick Waist Deep

20. William "Rick Ross" Roberts

$6 million, tie

Rotund rapper took his name from infamous drug trafficker Ricky Ross, lost street cred when it was revealed that he once worked as a corrections officer. No matter: This year, Ross beefed with 50 Cent; released his third album, Deeper Than Rap, which sold nearly 200,000 copies in its first week; and made his Cash Kings debut

20. Tramar "Flo Rida" Dillard

$6 million, tie

Cash Kings newcomer splashed onto the scene by rapping about Apple Bottom jeans and Reeboks in last year's hit "Get Low" featuring T-Pain. Followed up with album R.O.O.T.S., which included chart-topper "Right Round," sampled from the 1980s classic by Dead or Alive. No truth to the rumor that he's being sued by the state of Florida for trademark infringement.

 

 

18. Antwan "Big Boi" Patton

$7 million, tie

Member of Georgia duo Outkast, one of the most musically innovative and commercially successful hip-hop acts in history. Their six studio albums have collectively sold over 20 million units. Big Boi spent the past year finishing up solo album Sir Luscious Leftfoot, due out this fall.

18. Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin

$7 million, tie

Other half of Outkast is also working on a solo album, but spent more time recently furthering his acting career with a role in the summer blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Launched his Benjamin Bixby clothing line last year. Has a penchant for cars and speed: He was busted for doing 109 miles per hour in his Porsche earlier this spring.

 

 

14. Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean

$8 million, tie

Bronx-born prodigy got his start as a producer at age 16, penning the catchy "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" for DMX. Piled up a massive production catalog working with other artists from Busta Rhymes to Jay-Z. Last year's solo debut One Man Band Man underwhelmed, but side gigs keep him afloat--appeared in ads for the Gap and owns a stake in trendy toy company Kidrobot. Pending divorce from singer Mashonda and reported relationship with Alicia Keys have made him a tabloid favorite.

 

 

14. Clifford "T.I." Harris

$8 million, tie

Self-crowned "King of the South" co-founded Grand Hustle Records in 2001 to distribute his mix tapes. In recent years, became a cross-platform star, appearing in films including American Gangster (2007) alongside Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Bump in the road: Nabbed on machine-gun charges last year. Started serving a one-year sentence in May--but not before earning a nice chunk of change from his latest album, Paper Trail.

14. William "will.i.am" Adams

$8 million, tie

Discovered in the early 1990s by Eazy-E of NWA fame, will.i.am became a household name in recent years due to his success as part of the Black Eyed Peas. Singer-rapper-producer now focuses on solo work in and outside music, including roles in recent films Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Outspoken Obama supporter performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last fall.

14. Lonnie "Common" Lynn, Jr.

$8 million, tie

Chicago native is one of hip-hop's most socially conscious artists, supporting PETA and speaking out against the use of homophobic rap lyrics. Album Finding Forever, released in 2007, was nominated for three Grammys. Last year's follow-up, Universal Mind Control, sold 250,000 albums. Endorses Lincoln's Navigator, plugs Microsoft's Zune. Substantial film experience includes roles in Smokin' Aces (2007), Wanted (2008) and Terminator: Salvation (2009)

13. Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges

$10 million

"Mouth of the South" known as much for his raunchy lyrics as for his public spats with the likes of Bill O'Reilly and Oprah Winfrey. Parlayed musical success into a number of substantial acting roles, including an appearance in Crash, which won the 2005 Oscar for Best Picture. Also one of hip-hop's most consistent performers--his first five solo albums all went platinum. His sixth, Theater of the Mind, was released in November; though it has sold about 700,000 copies so far, still has a chance at 1 million.

12. Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus

$11 million

Lanky rapper parlayed pimpish image into mainstream fame. Once the embodiment of West Coast gangster rap, revealed a softer side in his reality-TV show Father Hood, now in its second year. Filmed taking care of family pets, teaching his kids about the birds and bees, and managing household matters. Last year's album Ego Trippin sold half a million copies worldwide; his next, due out this year, is rumored to include a track entitled "Snoop Dogg Millionaire.

11. Andre "Dr. Dre" Young

$13 million

Served as executive producer for Eminem's highly-anticipated album Relapse, which sold over a million U.S. copies in its first month. Legendary rapper-producer is also one of hip-hop's savviest. Unlike many who sell the rights to their songs, Dr. Dre hangs on to most of his; still collects royalties on multiplatinum albums like 1992 classic The Chronic, which sold nearly 10 million copies worldwide.

10. Marshall "Eminem" Mathers

$14 million

Controversial rhymester rapped his way back onto the scene this year with the release of Relapse, his first album in five years. The record, which details Eminem's battle with drug addiction, hit stores on May 15 and sold over a million copies in its first month. Sold 75 million records in his career; 1999 debut album The Slim Shady LP has been certified five-times platinum. Detroit native was recently voted best rapper alive in a poll by Vibe magazine.

9. Faheem "T-Pain" Najm

$15 million

Circus-themed album Thr33 Ringz debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's chart and has sold nearly 700,000 copies to date. Dreadlocked star also cashed in on a slew of guest appearances, including Flo Rida's "Low" and Kanye West's Grammy-winner "Good Life" last year. Nominated for three more Grammys in 2009. Appearance on Saturday Night Live digital short "On a Boat" became an Internet sensation, earning over 30 million YouTube views. Hip-hop's Jay Leno owns 32 cars, including the first Rolls Royce Phantom convertible sold in the U.S.

8. Pharrell Williams

$16 million

Versatile star made his name penning hits for rappers and pop artists alike as part of popular production duo The Neptunes. Recently produced songs for Busta Rhymes and Jadakiss. Now fronts the funk-rock band N*E*R*D and is said to be an avid Star Trek fan. A geek with exquisite taste, Williams designs sunglasses for Louis Vuitton and owns apparel lines Ice Cream and Billionaire Boys Club. Reportedly owns a solid gold BlackBerry.

7. Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley

$17 million

Hip-hop super-producer continues to churn out tracks at a frenetic pace; catalog of classic hits include Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'" and Ludacris' "Roll Out." More recently, produced pop songs for the likes of Madonna and Chris Cornell. Second solo album Shock Value went platinum shortly after its release in 2007; follow-up is scheduled for later this year. Hollywood beckons: Timba is reportedly set to produce the soundtrack to Simon Cowell's rumored Saturday Night Fever remake.

6. Dwayne "Lil Wayne" Carter

$18 million

Started hip-hop career as a teenager with group Hot Boys, blossomed into a mainstream celebrity with hits like "Tha Block is Hot" and "Lollipop." This year, pulled in an estimated $10 million from his 65-show mega-tour alone; latest album, Tha Carter III, went platinum in its opening week. Follow-up Tha Carter IV said to be in the works. Also starred alongside Forrest Whitaker in the film Hurricane Season, due out later this year. Longtime buddy Birdman reportedly gave Lil Wayne $1 million in cash for his 26th birthday in October.

4. Aliaune "Akon" Thiam

$20 million, tie

Split childhood between Senegal and the U.S., gained worldwide fame with 2004 hit "Locked Up." Since then, has become one of hip-hop's most versatile artists--one of few to make more money this year than last. Can thank diversification: writes, sings, raps and produces; makes lucrative guest appearances on other artists' songs and tours frequently. Other business ventures include Konvict Clothing and Konvict Music, a label that boasts pop princess Lady Gaga.

4. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson

$20 million, tie

Last year's highest-earning hip-hop star has seen annual pay fall from $150 million to $20 million. Reason: a $100 million windfall from the sale of VitaminWater parent Glacéau to Coca-Cola last year. Steep drop in earnings makes him look like a crashing bank stock, but Queens-born rapper might survive future stress tests better than most: His portfolio includes popular G-Unit clothing line and record label, plus films, videogames and a slew of platinum albums. Launched cologne for Macy's in June. Fourth album, Before I Self Destruct, is set for release later this year.

3. Kanye West

$25 million

Stayed atop the hip-hop charts with the release of his fourth album, 808s and Heartbreak. Though not as well-received as his prior effort, the multiplatinum Graduation, experimental oeuvre sold nearly 2 million copies. Last year's "Glow in the Dark" tour included a stop in his native Chicago to headline the music festival Lollapalooza. Moonlights as a shoe designer, recently crafting a successful limited-run Nike line called the Air Yeezy; designed another shoe line for Louis Vuitton, due out this summer.

2. Sean "Diddy" Combs

$30 million

Dapper don of hip-hop continues his decade-long run of good fortune. Diversified Diddy brings in cash from clothing line Sean John, record label Bad Boy, premium vodka Ciroc and reality TV shows Making the Band and Run's House. With over 1 million followers and an abundance of exuberant posts, Diddy is among the most prolific of hip-hop's Twitterati.

1. Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter

$35 million

Reclaimed his crown as the top Hip-Hop Cash King despite taking a steep pay cut from the $82 million he brought in a year ago. The reason? That figure was inflated by a top-heavy 10-year, $150 million deal he signed with Live Nation last April. Still had a good year: wrapped up a huge an international tour, made a groundbreaking appearance at the U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival and honeymooned with new wife Beyoncé. Owns a stake in pro basketball's New Jersey Nets and New York's 40/40 nightclub.

#Bernard Madoff Gets 150 Yr. Sentence for Massive Scam

NEW YORK — Bernard Madoff, the most reviled emblem of business corruption to emerge from the nation's latest gilded age, was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison for bilking thousands of investors worldwide in what was arguably history's largest and longest Ponzi scheme. The 71-year-old disgraced financier stood silently as U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin overrode defense recommendations for no more than a 12-year term and imposed the maximum sentence requested by prosecutors for the $13 billion to $65 billion scam. The sentence prompted a muted cheer and applause from victims who packed the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan less than a mile from the scene of the Sept. 11 attacks. "I thought the judge was brilliant. He just hit it out of the ballpark," said Burt Ross, a former Fort Lee, N.J., mayor who was one of nine victims who addressed the court and urged the maximum penalty. Madoff, dressed in a gray suit that Chin allowed him to wear instead of a prisoner's uniform, said "I cannot offer you an excuse for my behavior. How do you excuse betraying thousands of investors who trusted you with their life savings?" Turning around and facing his victims for the first time, Madoff added "I am sorry. I know that doesn't help you." Lead defense attorney Ira Lee Sorkin, called Madoff "a deeply flawed individual," but added that he's still "a human being who should not be sentenced on the basis of vengeance." But Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Baroni said the maximum sentence was necessary to accomplish justice for what she called "a calculated long-term fraud." In imposing the heavy sentence, Chin said he relied on three factors: retribution for what he called Madoff's "extraordinarily evil" crimes, deterrence for any future wrongdoers and the victims. A substantial sentence "may in some small way help the victims in their healing process," said Chin. The judge said he had been told by a court trustee seeking Madoff's assets that the trustee did not believe Madoff had been entirely cooperative. The punishment far exceeded the prison terms meted out to other noted white collar criminals convicted in recent major cases. Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years, and former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling got a 24-year sentence. The victims who addressed the court were among approximately 50 other former investment clients in attendance as court officers led Madoff away after the proceeding that lasted just over an hour and a half. The nine who spoke told of lives ruined, pensions decimated, and trust betrayed. "Bernard Madoff should no longer be allowed back in society," said Michael Schwartz, of Plainsboro, N.J., whose family has struggled to care for his mentally disabled brother after being victimized by the scam. "I can only hope that his sentence is long enough that his prison cell becomes his coffin." Madoff was expected to be returned temporarily to the Metropolitan Correctional Center where he has been jailed since his March 12 guilty plea to securities fraud, perjury, money laundering and eight other charges. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons is expected to decide within weeks where Madoff will serve his term after receiving information about the sentencing, any placement recommendations from the court and any security or other concerns. The agency tries to place convicts in a prison within 500 miles of their official residence, said spokeswoman Traci Billingsley. The sentencing marked the close of a major chapter in the investigation of a massive scam in which Madoff used money from newer investors to pay earlier ones — the operational hallmark of a Ponzi scheme. The scheme collapsed in December as the worst recession in generations prompted Madoff's investors to seek billions of dollars in redemptions. Victimized investors ranged from Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and retired baseball great Sandy Koufax to Hollywood star John Malkovich, Spain's largest bank, and hedge funds, labor unions and average investors around the world. Many eagerly vied to put their money in what was widely though quietly touted as an exclusive investment opportunity that reported uncannily positive gains with few down quarters over at least the last two decades. But instead of the promised investments in stocks, options and securities, Madoff confessed he put the money into a Chase Manhattan Bank account he used to pay clients' periodic withdrawals. Investigators have also alleged that Madoff used investors' millions to fund a lavish lifestyle that included multi-million dollar homes on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in Palm Beach, Fla.; Montauk, N.Y.; and France, along with yachts, jewelry, loans and payments to his sons and other relatives and a host of other luxuries. Chin on Friday directed those assets and others surrendered in preliminary forfeiture order that totaled more than $170 billion. The order left Madoff's wife, Ruth, who dropped earlier claims that some of the assets were her property and unconnected to the scam, with an estimated $2.5 million. But even that smaller total remains subject to legal claims, the judge ruled. Madoff said his wife "cries herself to sleep every night" thinking about the pain and suffering he caused. In a statement released after her husband's sentencing, Ruth Madoff said she felt "betrayed and confused." "The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years," she said. "In the end, to say that I feel devastated for the many whom my husband has destroyed is truly inadequate. Nothing I can say seems sufficient regarding the daily suffering that all these innocent people are enduring because of my husband," she said. Until the scam collapsed, Madoff was a widely respected investment adviser, a former Nasdaq board chairman who, with his brother, Peter, built an electronic trading business that quickly matched stock buyers and sellers. Madoff's dramatic fall from penthouse to penitentiary has prompted several pending books, continuous international media coverage and regular late-night TV show jokes. But the sentencing left several key questions publicly unanswered. Federal investigators are investigating whether Madoff's wife and brother, sons, Mark and Andrew, former employees or anyone else was involved in the scheme. All have denied any knowledge of the criminal scheme, and Madoff has insisted he had no accomplices. Federal investigators, however, have been unwilling to conclude that Madoff alone could have kept the scam flourishing and undetected since the early 1990s, Madoff's claim for when the crimes began, or since the 1980s, the estimate reached by prosecutors. Apart from Madoff himself, prosecutors have charged his business accountant, David Friehling, with fraud for allegedly failing to conduct meaningful audits that could have uncovered the Ponzi scheme. Discussions toward a potential plea deal in Friehling's case are ongoing, prosecutors have signaled in court filings. Separately, court-appointed trustee Irving Picard leads a worldwide hunt aimed at recovering Madoff's assets and using them to help repay the thousands of burned investors. Picard has recovered approximately $1 billion so far, a fraction of the amount victims say they're owed. More than 100 victim impact statements filed with the court on June 15 dramatically described how the scam has forced retirees to try to seek work, pushed incapacitated residents out of assisted living facilities, squelched college plans and triggered a host of other personal calamities. Madoff investors face a Wednesday deadline to apply for compensation under the Securities Investor Protection Act, a federal insurance program for clients of bankrupt investment firms. Some victims were expected to attend a park rally near the court following the sentencing. Picard has charged that Madoff used his Manhattan-based business and a separate London company as a piggy bank to pay for millions of dollars in personal and family expenses. The trustee has also sued several so-called feeder funds that channeled investors' money to Madoff, arguing that they had should have realized Madoff's operation was a scam and therefore should be forced to repay billions of dollars to help repay victims. Allegations in the lawsuits, filed against the alternative investment consultant Fairfield Greenwich Group, hedge fund operator J. Ezra Merkin and others, have raised speculation that federal prosecutors may ultimately seek parallel criminal charges. Separately, the inspector general's office of the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the regulatory agency's failure to detect and halt Madoff's fraud. Harry Markopolos, a financial fraud investigator, told Congress earlier this year that the SEC failed to act on his repeated claims dating back to 2000 that Madoff was operating the largest Ponzi scheme in history.