Q 13

PLAYBOY: Would you want your daughter to marry a stockbroker?

Louis Rukeyser: If his other habits were good.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: What is your hedge against inflation?

Louis Rukeyser: Living well. For example, if you can afford a Rolls-Royce, which I cannot, that's a very good investment. Not only may the car itself increase in value but, meanwhile, the Government cannot tax the psychic satisfaction you get from driving it. Beyond that, all the wonderful wines I've drunk and all those terrific terrines are in the category of "They can't take that away from me." I don't mean you should fall away into hedonism, particularly if you've got people who depend on you, but I think we shouldn't forget about the here and now.

Q 15

PLAYBOY: Do you gamble?

Louis Rukeyser: I love to gamble. I get a little bit less of a kick out of it now than I used to, because I can't be at the tables in Las Vegas for 20 minutes before six people have said to me, as if it were the funniest remark of the year, "Hey, you find this a better death than Wall Street?" But I've gambled all over the world. I don't gamble with the milk money and I don't tell myself that it's a form of investment. It's a form of pleasure.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: What is more important than money?

Louis Rukeyser: A lot of things. Your family's more important than money; your personal sense of yourself; your ability to live with yourself. But money's not to be sneered at. Money itself can be liberating. I always tell people not to overemphasize money. But I've found in my own life, living all over the world, seeing people of all economic statuses, living among them, that one of the best ways to keep money in perspective is to have a little bit of it. If you're concerned about where your next meal is coming from, that will obsess you beyond any other consideration in life. If you've been able to make a buck or two, then maybe you'll have time to go to a concert or an art gallery or to read a book.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: Isn't there something of the guru somewhere inside Louis Rukeyser?

Louis Rukeyser: : I don't stare at my navel a great deal of the time, but my real prediction is that the Eighties will be the decade of common stocks. The Government has pretty well mucked up the American economy, and I would favor a little less mucking up in the next generation. Our needs will be served by a greater degree of individual liberty than has been customary in this or any other society. We also have to get over the idea that business is the enemy, that profits are antisocial and that capitalism is a dirty word. The key to better living is a healthy private economy. Government never created prosperity for anyone.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: Can you shed some light on the current state of the economy? We thought business types had put one of their own in the Oval Office. Yet they don't seem to be as rich or as happy as they'd like.

Louis Rukeyser: The chief problem is that Reagan has yet to put our money where his mouth is. He's often talked revolution, but his proposals have turned out to be popguns. The financial markets caught on to this before the press did and they got scared. Reagan wasn't really doing it. Hatchet jobs make for headlines, but early on, seven major programs were exempted from budget cuts at the same time there was supposed to be a defense increase. All the cuts occurred in the "easy" part of the budget. The fact that you've managed to inflict pain on individuals doesn't mean that you've made an attack on the runaway portions of the budget. We simply have to reduce the portion of our incomes that goes to the Federal Government.

Now, Wall Street is not exclusively-inhabited by mossback Republicans. When economic conditions are right, the financial markets will perform with enthusiasm under a Democratic president. When conditions are wrong, as Nixon and Ford found out, Wall Street won't let supposed partisan loyalty stand in the way of giving a raspberry to the Government of the day. Money is more serious than politics.

Q 19

PLAYBOY: Will you give us a hot tip?

Louis Rukeyser: I was pleased to see that the excessive overpricing of some of the great wines has receded. I remember 12 years ago, I paid $19 for a truly great bottle of wine. Five years later, the same wine was selling for $200 a bottle. I was delighted to see last year it was down below $100. If the price keeps going down, I may buy another.

Q 20

PLAYBOY: How about picking an issue for us?

Louis Rukeyser: Romanee-Conti. When I die, I'd like my ashes to be scattered over la domains de la Romanee-Conti. But I'm sure the proprietors, with their good sense about what helps the wine, will forbid it.