Mr. Spitzer leaned on his reputation, formed during his tenure as state attorney general, as the "sheriff of Wall Street," arguing that he was more independent and had more financial experience than Mr. Stringer.
"How are reputations formed?" asked Smith, who recruits for Bloomberg's entry-level positions.
Negative reputations form in the same unhurried, incremental way.
You're free from reputations formed since childhood, free from parents, free from your tired teenage life.
The bookmakers have installed Serena Williams as favourite, justified on reputation and form, but there is little in it at the top of the market.
At St Dominic's the informal, relaxed reputation sixth-form colleges are known for — with students (not pupils) unfettered by uniforms and on first-name terms with teachers — is underpinned by "scaffolding to support them", as Parkin puts it.
"I think the regulators have done very well, with the exception of the Comptroller of the Currency," which he said had a reputation for forming cozy relationships with the national banks under its purview.
On the strength of his remarkable reputation, he formed the national academy and quickly secured a promise from the Baghdad municipal government for the academy to occupy a modest three-story building at 6 Haifa Street if he could raise the money to renovate its looted interior.
Surely on reputation not form.
Past reputation and form on paper have mattered very little.
