From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Wall Street's one-man wrecking crew.

Hello again, I'm Norman Allney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

The victims are banks, hedge funds, wealthy investors, and charities worldwide.

L.A.'s Jewish Journal is running a feature called Swindler's List.

But Bernard Madoff didn't just trick investors, who should have known better.

The SEC admits it was warned he was running a Ponzi scheme back in 1999.

How did his racket come to be worth $50 billion? Could the losses eventually add up to more? And why is this House of Financial

cards collapsing now? On reporter's notebook later on, should we be surprised, a new poll shows

an extraordinary loss of confidence in the U.S. economy.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for American workers. More at rockfound.org.N. Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for American

Workers. More at rockfound.org. Hello again. I'm Armin Alney, back with To the Point. Sophisticated people

and institutions worldwide fell victim to Bernard Madoff's Wall Street Ponzi scheme, not to mention

the Securities and Exchange Commission. How come they all got taken for $50 billion

when others so clearly saw fraud? On reporter's notebook, Americans are expressing high levels of

economics insecurity and for good reasons. We'll hear the results of a recent poll. First,

this news update at the state legislature considers impeachment. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich

today went out for a jog.

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