Goldman Sachs: Preying on its Clients (& Taxpayers, too) [Note to Readers: No, this hasn’t become the “anti-Goldman Sachs rant” blog. It’s just that: a) the firm’s conduct is/was so outrageous; b) the economic harm it caused so far-reaching; and c) authorities’ response to the firm’s conduct so feeble (if you can call it that)....Read More
A Cut for Everyone But the Taxpayer “Bribe” (verb): to induce or influence by or as if by bribery. “Bribe” (noun): money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust. –Webster’s Dictionary Of course, the whole thing is that “no laws were...Read More
Who Will be the “Google” of Wall Street?Anyone else feeling a sense of deja vu here? The last time a corporation — U.S. or otherwise — inspired as much sheer disdain, disgust, and outright hostility as Goldman Sachs does now was Microsoft almost 20 years ago. At the time, Microsoft was beginning to practically gush...Read More
Recessions Happen, Crashes Have CausesHere are my thoughts/reactions after reading “The Bank Job: Goldman’s Elite on the Crisis and Bonus Rage,” by Bethany McLean in the January, 2010 issue of Vanity Fair (it’s online now). That is, once I gargled to get the bad taste out of my mouth. One. If your agenda is to...Read More
Keith Ellison vs. Lloyd Blankfein Even if Congress was scrupulously independent of Wall Street — which is hardly the case — it would be no match for Wall Street when it came to drafting legislation that made the financial system fairer and more transparent. The problem is a combination of priorities and expertise. To take...Read More
What’s Goldman Up to NOW? “Certainly, our industry is responsible for things. We’re a leader in our industry, and we participated in things that were clearly wrong and we have reasons to regret and apologize for.” –Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs chairman and chief executive (Nov. 17, 2009) It is widely and correctly understood that Wall...Read More
