People won't care until they wake up. People won't wake up until it hits them in the pocketbook. That's exactly how Trump will go down, and how people will, again, run screaming to the Democrats in 2028, if not 2026.
------------
EDIT: Since I apparently failed at getting across what I mean here, I'll try to explain it better: The problem with controlling Goldman is not just their superior gamesmanship, it's human nature + modern technology (surveillance capitalism, propaganda, invasive dubious medicine, etc. etc., the whole shebang) + the current mechanisms of our republic.
Nothing will change (in the press, in the bureaucracies. in the courts, etc.) until the people are really behind it. It may look currently as if we are now making headway, but I remain extremely skeptical, as (1) election "choices" are always little better than incoherent grunts, separated by years, and (2) in the between-time, even "the press" isn't interacting with "the people" as we expect: Taibbi: "Reputation is everything. / Except for Goldman Sachs. / Goldman Sachs seems to defy reputation risk time and time again." Reputation doesn't work the way it used to -- that's in part what I mean by "modern technology". Clearly, in 21st Century U.S., no amount of brilliant exposés, laudable as they are (and keep me on the annual plan with Matt), nor all our daily clapping and stewing and venting here, are sufficient to fix the problems with the republic.
Trump *will* be taken down in TPTB's pursuit of full control. The vast majority of elected Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, cannot be trusted. But given the current American state of mind(s), the ping-pong electorate will continue to bounce back and forth forever between two monsters (the "leadership" of the two "sides"), maintaining the illusion of "We the People". So until we badly up our game in this modern age, not a damn thing will actually be corrected.
I’m not going to hold my breath on your prediction. Of course, you have woven Trumps name into a multi layer boondoggle. I don’t recall the mention of Trump anywhere in this article. But, thanks anyway for slip sliding to Trump.
When you take a story about Wall Street crimes and say "that's exactly how Trump will go down" it is natural for people to think that. Especially when you follow it by noting how people will go back to the Dems.
Don't get bent when people react to your words the way the words look.
You are right. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Forgive me for saying this but it seems your comments make perfect sense to you, but the rest of us, not so much. I’m going to go back and reread your comments again so I can come to an understanding. Thanks
Matt is "asking" why nothing stops Goldman Sachs. I answered it. Maybe obliquely and uncomfortably, but yes I certainly answered it. My response has zero to do with my opinion pro/con Trump or the Democrats, but rather, human nature. That, and the sophistication of consent manufacturing in the modern age. Please see my edited comment above.
Yes, they will. No matter how outrageous and devastating the Biden administration was, too many people *will* forget the horrors from that did not hit them personally. Pocketbook, being personal, well... trumps everything. Time to up our game, and badly.
"People of modest means continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t *give a fuck* about you. They don't *care* about you at all -- at all -- at all." -- George Carlin, two decades ago
So what Biden Administration horrors did this phantom cohort of your's ("too many people") NOT experience personally and are now in the process of forgetting? Were these same individuals satisfied with the requisite one or two of the horrors that actually DID hit them personally?
Or did the Biden Crime Family, pikers to the last, fail to properly provide the "horror experience" to this seemingly neglected cohort?
Nothing will change until people start going to jail for taking bribes. And that means cars, vacations, free trips, scholarships, prepaid debit cards and all the other ways bribes are given in our modern era.
There's truth to that however, many of the reasons why are our political class are in a position to profit from these sorts of escapades and they are paid to look the other way or do legislation that helps the white collar criminals.
"Goldman Sachs will commit massive crimes [no matter who is elected]"
Agreed, because our vaunted republican system has some undeniable problems in the modern world. I don't pretend to know what *exactly* is broken currently, say, in the First Amendment -- my favorite, as it is the foundation of "We the People" -- or how to fix it, but it IS broken. Because unless they align with already-decided elite opinion, peoples' voices are stifled, protests are ignored, petitions don't exist, and the press doesn't report reality. Arguably, that's what Taibbi's article here concerns the most.
So we have to figure a way around those problems. Continually screaming that others aren't behaving is necessary, but I humbly submit it has been rendered insufficient.
P.S. About two decades ago in response to Iraq War protests, VP Dick Cheney flippantly responded in an interview that protesting Americans must simply "wait until the next election", 2008, if they had any problems with the war policy that was turning badly. So much for redressing grievances. This shocking response was widely reported. I saw him say the words; there were no deepfakes c.2005. Just now I searched for this online and had no luck. As I've been finding this a lot, I am suspecting it's yet another scrubbed item.
It's that memory hole Matt and Walter were talking about.
Speaking of that shitbag Cheney, all the Harris people were so happy when he endorsed her. What they couldn't realize is that they (the national Dems) have been moving more and more to the neocon crap Cheney represents. He's not becoming more like you, you're becoming more like him. Dumbasses.
20% of We the People are illiterate and 60% of us read at a 6th Grade level. Add, for those who can find employment, two job dependency, the demoralizing impact of random senseless petty crime in our Republic's gutted industrial cities and the psyoping blathering electronic sewer distortion of healthy human reality. Goldman, BlackRock and so called "private equity" are boils on the ass of Western Civilization. Access to uneducated disposable labor and all natural resources for personal exploitation and profit without restraint or oversight is the game. AI/Davos/DEI bells and whistles are just the latest spin. Gun thugs (deep state) and payoffs to greasy politicians is/has been/will continue to be the name of the game. The horror is destruction of the American Republic so that grifters can buy yachts and grand pianos for "super models". The greatest upward transfer of wealth in human history continues.
You are correct Sir. It is time for We the People to "up our game". The change required, the difference to be made, is in each of us. The walking wounded are everywhere. It is time to heal.
I continue to take hope in subscription journalism and the power of re-establishing the unifying truth/fact based national conversation that will heal American reality. The voices are out there. RACKET being one. Excuse me, I'm ranting again--but!! We the People are the last free people standing. Accept the power. They can kill you. They can eat you. But they can't defeat you.
I don’t disagree. How many Goldman officials are in the Trump 2.0 admin? When he got elected the first time I was like “Nothing’s really changing, we have another Sec Treas-Minuchin-from Goldman Sachs”!!
Exactly. We have yet to figure out really how to successfully confront intelligent psychopathy, concentrated power (of all kinds), and increasingly dangerous technology (surveillance, propaganda, AI, etc.). The traditional dividing lines of capitalism vs socialism, etc., are simply lower priority now.
I don't have answers, but we really need to be asking the right questions. I'm increasingly confident we must change our ways of protest and correction.
So far as a political system may deal with these issues, the corrupt infections in our present system require looking back to move forward.
IMHO, the Constitutional Convention brought together two competing forces. Those genuinely wishing a government closer to the Articles of Confederation they were ostensibly there to “improve”, the other whose wish was to devise a substantial central government with greater power and control. To this bunch, even the Bill of Rights was merely their mcguffin. Required to achieve their goals but designed to be end runned nearly from the beginning. The successful end runs mounted, leading us to our authoritarian “lite” rule today.
So, like you I pose few answers to our dilemmas other than finding within our political body the means to restore or require political government from the bottom up rather than our current top down. I see little chance that Trump or either ruling party wishes to help bring this about though it’s possible within the chaotic turmoil with which Trump governs, we might at minimum rediscover and rejuvenate the Doctrine of Nullification. De facto will do.
Thanks. I don't consider myself sufficiently knowledgeable about the creation of the Constitution to comment or add to this, but I'll aim to review it again more deeply now decades after my first exposure. Formal schooling is ironically too often wasted on the young, isn't it?
We've also learned a lot in 250 years or so about the nature of modern states and human nature, and hopefully will realize it's time to give up goals of any sort of steady-state nirvana, no matter what ideology is presented.
Yes exactly. TPTB coops everything. Difficult if not impossible to change that given its deep roots in the underlying structure of society, gubberment etc.
It's not just that financial crime isn't punished, it's that it's actually rewarded. The US PROMOTES financial crime, as long you're a successful criminal.
You might also add the ouster of Brooksley Borne in 1999 when Greenspan, Rubin, and Summers opposed her over-the-counter derivatives regulation. It is an opaque $600 TRILLION market and completely unregulated. Greenspan, Rubin, Summers . . . scum.
The worst is that Summers is being trotted out to give his opinions on "Trump's being mean to Harvard." Summers was intensely disliked when he was at Harvard (but he's disliked everywhere, so there's that), but he's fine to criticize Trump.
By now, many of you have probably read the regrettable resignation letter published in today’s New York Times by former Goldman executive Greg Smith, explaining why he is leaving the firm after twelve years.
In the letter, in which he excoriates Goldman and his practices, Mr. Smith comes across as a man of conscience, ideals, and high moral standards. And as you read his words, you no doubt asked yourself this troubling question: how could Goldman have hired such a person?
At Goldman, we pride ourselves on our ability to scour the world’s universities and business schools for the finest sociopaths money will buy. Once in our internship program, these youths are subjected to rigorous evaluations to root out even the slightest evidence of a soul. But, as the case of Mr. Smith shows, even the most time-tested system for detecting shreds of humanity can blow a gasket now and then. For that, we can only offer you our deepest apology and the reassurance that one good apple won’t spoil the whole bunch.
As to those of you who were serviced by Mr. Smith, it’s understandable that you would be concerned about who will be taking his place going forward. On that front, I have some exciting news: today, Goldman is pleased to announce that our new executive director and head of the United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa will be Mr. Joseph Kony. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Kony’s resume, let me assure you that he has the character and moral standards you have come to expect from Goldman, and like the rest of us here at the bank, he has dedicated his life to doing the Lord’s work.
And if Goldman were to flirt with financial failure - perish the thought - you know that the Fed would be right there with a bailout. That's how deeply their tentacles extend throughout our financial and business world. And deeply with the Democrat Party.....
It already happened. Their tier 3 securities back in the GFC were so under water they were fully drowning. But Chocolate Jesus and crew bailed them out and they were back to handing out a billion in bonuses shortly thereafter.
Hey! ChocoJesus made bank off those deals that sold out our futures to the bankster class. If you'll recall his immediate payoff was a $65 million book deal. Then Netflix, etc. I hear he's not doing near the bank speech business Hilldawg did but then they thought she had a future.
This applies to everyone in govt. We have congress making money trading stocks they regulate. Look at Nancy Pelosi’s husband and winning track record with options. Options are the riskiest bet in the market. Especially blind options which means you don’t own the underlining stock for the option you are purchasing. It’s almost like playing the lottery yet he constantly wins and his success rate is ridiculous. He may in fact be the most successful options trader of all time as Nancy regulates every company he buys. No investigation. Definitely no prison. I’d say it almost mirrors 1984 that we here are reading right now. The little guy gets the screw while those in power in money and finance keep buying yachts.
Unfortunately, Eric, this is not news. Those of us in the investment industry know that Goldman has been fleecing people for decades, and that they remain untouchable. What would be news is to learn the details of the machinations and manipulation they go through to maintain their exalted position.
They are, the epitome of snobby East Coast, overly educated and overly indulged financial elite. It’s as if they’re entitlement was inbred.
Read or watch “The Firm” - the book is better IMO - and substitute Goldman for the Memphis Lawfirm at the center of the story. Now add at least 3 zeros to all the financials and your are getting close to GS shenanigans . Spoiler Alert - There is NO Mitch McDeere .
Eric, It would really help if you would open with some context or at least some links on what the 1MDB scandal is. When an article starts out without the hook, without the "so what", I (and others with limited attention currency to spend) generally delete and go on to the next thing.
The book "Billion Dollar Whale" is an amusing and horrifying look at the massive fraud perpetuated by Malaysian "financier" (I use the term loosely) Jho Low with great assistance provided by Goldman. I read the book, so I readily understood what Eric was reporting. I do agree that context and/or links would have been useful to those unfamiliar with this story.
Agree on the book Billion Dollar Whale. On my watch list is Netflix’s “Man on the Run” documentary. As an aside, Jho Low is a Univ of Pennsylvania grad.
Years ago, there were big problems with Ford's Pinto model. The gas tank was catching fire in rear-end accidents due to a design flaw. Ford executives undertook a study comparing the cost of a recall to fix the problem versus paying settlements to the victims families who were burned alive. They determined paying settlements was cheaper than the cost of the recall.
My point - paying fines and penalties resulting from corruption and illegality is simply a line-item on Goldman's income statement. A recurring cost of doing business.
Of course nothing will ever happen to GS. Every Fed Chair and or Treasury Secretary has deep connections back to GS The whole 2008 Fiscal Crisis was because those idiots at GS couldn’t stand the CEO of Lehman Bros and they got their buddies at the Fed not to bail them out forgetting how many fucking billions they were at risk too. So when the whole bond market froze up GS was on the verge of fiscal collapse themselves. Yet the Fed’s rode to their rescue pretending it was to bail out the commercial banks forcing those entities to take bailouts from the Treasury to cover up the failure of GS the Fed then printed billions to buy up all the crap bonds GS had on its books.
Personally--that is for myself--when the DNC lie went down to Trump it was like sunrise after a cold and starless night. It seemed our entire Republic was able to breathe again. (Trump is reprieve not salvation.) It is reasonable to think that the extremes of the DNC lie would lead to the over correction We the People are experiencing now. Money is an issue for us all, but the assault on civil liberties is a horror. It is time to look past the D.C./Wall Street grift.
When did the American national conversation begin to include the term "Soros D.A." and who allowed that to happen?
I briefly worked in a compliance role at HSBC. Many, many people were being monitored and NOTHING was done other than sending reports to Fintrac, who also then did nothing.
It was a demoralizing experience. The salaries of my department were effectively a service charge enabling the bank to participate in money laundering. And the regulator received the reports and they too were therefore complicit.
I suppose this revealed to me how much the Canadian economy is reliant on foreign money launderers stimulating our economy. Revolting.
Goldman has always had really close ties to the Democratic Party. They had big financial giving PACs even back in the 1980s when very few firms on Wall Street had those kind of large scale political operations. I was in public finance and they were very hard to compete with as a result.
Consequences. MIA in America. No one goes to prison except the little people. I believe “white collar crime” is much more egregious than common crime.
People won't care until they wake up. People won't wake up until it hits them in the pocketbook. That's exactly how Trump will go down, and how people will, again, run screaming to the Democrats in 2028, if not 2026.
------------
EDIT: Since I apparently failed at getting across what I mean here, I'll try to explain it better: The problem with controlling Goldman is not just their superior gamesmanship, it's human nature + modern technology (surveillance capitalism, propaganda, invasive dubious medicine, etc. etc., the whole shebang) + the current mechanisms of our republic.
Nothing will change (in the press, in the bureaucracies. in the courts, etc.) until the people are really behind it. It may look currently as if we are now making headway, but I remain extremely skeptical, as (1) election "choices" are always little better than incoherent grunts, separated by years, and (2) in the between-time, even "the press" isn't interacting with "the people" as we expect: Taibbi: "Reputation is everything. / Except for Goldman Sachs. / Goldman Sachs seems to defy reputation risk time and time again." Reputation doesn't work the way it used to -- that's in part what I mean by "modern technology". Clearly, in 21st Century U.S., no amount of brilliant exposés, laudable as they are (and keep me on the annual plan with Matt), nor all our daily clapping and stewing and venting here, are sufficient to fix the problems with the republic.
Trump *will* be taken down in TPTB's pursuit of full control. The vast majority of elected Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, cannot be trusted. But given the current American state of mind(s), the ping-pong electorate will continue to bounce back and forth forever between two monsters (the "leadership" of the two "sides"), maintaining the illusion of "We the People". So until we badly up our game in this modern age, not a damn thing will actually be corrected.
I’m not going to hold my breath on your prediction. Of course, you have woven Trumps name into a multi layer boondoggle. I don’t recall the mention of Trump anywhere in this article. But, thanks anyway for slip sliding to Trump.
Trump is a metaphor for everything in their own miserable existence for too many people. The same for the old man above your comment.
You have no idea what I'm talking about. I am not criticizing Trump, I'm criticizing the system, and to a lesser extent, the people.
When you take a story about Wall Street crimes and say "that's exactly how Trump will go down" it is natural for people to think that. Especially when you follow it by noting how people will go back to the Dems.
Don't get bent when people react to your words the way the words look.
Precisely!
You are right. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Forgive me for saying this but it seems your comments make perfect sense to you, but the rest of us, not so much. I’m going to go back and reread your comments again so I can come to an understanding. Thanks
Thank you
Fair enough, but then you could have framed your argument in a way that made that clearer. Now, mind you, I agree with much of what you wrote.
Matt is "asking" why nothing stops Goldman Sachs. I answered it. Maybe obliquely and uncomfortably, but yes I certainly answered it. My response has zero to do with my opinion pro/con Trump or the Democrats, but rather, human nature. That, and the sophistication of consent manufacturing in the modern age. Please see my edited comment above.
Reading and comprehension are two different items. When the latter is deficient, understanding becomes the victim. Do not be deterred.
Wall Street Teflon. And the beat goes on.
Sure, people will run screaming for open borders, DEI, lawlessness and all of the wonderful joys the democrats brought to us the last 4 years.
Yes, they will. No matter how outrageous and devastating the Biden administration was, too many people *will* forget the horrors from that did not hit them personally. Pocketbook, being personal, well... trumps everything. Time to up our game, and badly.
"People of modest means continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t *give a fuck* about you. They don't *care* about you at all -- at all -- at all." -- George Carlin, two decades ago
So what Biden Administration horrors did this phantom cohort of your's ("too many people") NOT experience personally and are now in the process of forgetting? Were these same individuals satisfied with the requisite one or two of the horrors that actually DID hit them personally?
Or did the Biden Crime Family, pikers to the last, fail to properly provide the "horror experience" to this seemingly neglected cohort?
LOL
Nothing will change until people start going to jail for taking bribes. And that means cars, vacations, free trips, scholarships, prepaid debit cards and all the other ways bribes are given in our modern era.
There's truth to that however, many of the reasons why are our political class are in a position to profit from these sorts of escapades and they are paid to look the other way or do legislation that helps the white collar criminals.
It is the most likely to occur because it is lucrative and rarely punished.
Goldman Sachs will commit massive crimes if Trump, Biden, Ron Paul, Harry S . Truman, or George Fucking Washington were President.
Both parties love the dirty money, so don't expect it to stop, and don't blame it on one of the other.
"Goldman Sachs will commit massive crimes [no matter who is elected]"
Agreed, because our vaunted republican system has some undeniable problems in the modern world. I don't pretend to know what *exactly* is broken currently, say, in the First Amendment -- my favorite, as it is the foundation of "We the People" -- or how to fix it, but it IS broken. Because unless they align with already-decided elite opinion, peoples' voices are stifled, protests are ignored, petitions don't exist, and the press doesn't report reality. Arguably, that's what Taibbi's article here concerns the most.
So we have to figure a way around those problems. Continually screaming that others aren't behaving is necessary, but I humbly submit it has been rendered insufficient.
P.S. About two decades ago in response to Iraq War protests, VP Dick Cheney flippantly responded in an interview that protesting Americans must simply "wait until the next election", 2008, if they had any problems with the war policy that was turning badly. So much for redressing grievances. This shocking response was widely reported. I saw him say the words; there were no deepfakes c.2005. Just now I searched for this online and had no luck. As I've been finding this a lot, I am suspecting it's yet another scrubbed item.
It's that memory hole Matt and Walter were talking about.
Speaking of that shitbag Cheney, all the Harris people were so happy when he endorsed her. What they couldn't realize is that they (the national Dems) have been moving more and more to the neocon crap Cheney represents. He's not becoming more like you, you're becoming more like him. Dumbasses.
20% of We the People are illiterate and 60% of us read at a 6th Grade level. Add, for those who can find employment, two job dependency, the demoralizing impact of random senseless petty crime in our Republic's gutted industrial cities and the psyoping blathering electronic sewer distortion of healthy human reality. Goldman, BlackRock and so called "private equity" are boils on the ass of Western Civilization. Access to uneducated disposable labor and all natural resources for personal exploitation and profit without restraint or oversight is the game. AI/Davos/DEI bells and whistles are just the latest spin. Gun thugs (deep state) and payoffs to greasy politicians is/has been/will continue to be the name of the game. The horror is destruction of the American Republic so that grifters can buy yachts and grand pianos for "super models". The greatest upward transfer of wealth in human history continues.
You are correct Sir. It is time for We the People to "up our game". The change required, the difference to be made, is in each of us. The walking wounded are everywhere. It is time to heal.
I continue to take hope in subscription journalism and the power of re-establishing the unifying truth/fact based national conversation that will heal American reality. The voices are out there. RACKET being one. Excuse me, I'm ranting again--but!! We the People are the last free people standing. Accept the power. They can kill you. They can eat you. But they can't defeat you.
"20% of We the People are illiterate and 60% of us read at a 6th Grade level." Source please, I can't find anything close to those numbers.
Are we ancient Rome reborn. It all sounds the same. their elites many of the senators did so many of the same things.
I don’t disagree. How many Goldman officials are in the Trump 2.0 admin? When he got elected the first time I was like “Nothing’s really changing, we have another Sec Treas-Minuchin-from Goldman Sachs”!!
How do we “up our game”? What does that mean?
"What does that mean?"
Exactly. We have yet to figure out really how to successfully confront intelligent psychopathy, concentrated power (of all kinds), and increasingly dangerous technology (surveillance, propaganda, AI, etc.). The traditional dividing lines of capitalism vs socialism, etc., are simply lower priority now.
I don't have answers, but we really need to be asking the right questions. I'm increasingly confident we must change our ways of protest and correction.
Excellent questions.
So far as a political system may deal with these issues, the corrupt infections in our present system require looking back to move forward.
IMHO, the Constitutional Convention brought together two competing forces. Those genuinely wishing a government closer to the Articles of Confederation they were ostensibly there to “improve”, the other whose wish was to devise a substantial central government with greater power and control. To this bunch, even the Bill of Rights was merely their mcguffin. Required to achieve their goals but designed to be end runned nearly from the beginning. The successful end runs mounted, leading us to our authoritarian “lite” rule today.
So, like you I pose few answers to our dilemmas other than finding within our political body the means to restore or require political government from the bottom up rather than our current top down. I see little chance that Trump or either ruling party wishes to help bring this about though it’s possible within the chaotic turmoil with which Trump governs, we might at minimum rediscover and rejuvenate the Doctrine of Nullification. De facto will do.
Thanks. I don't consider myself sufficiently knowledgeable about the creation of the Constitution to comment or add to this, but I'll aim to review it again more deeply now decades after my first exposure. Formal schooling is ironically too often wasted on the young, isn't it?
We've also learned a lot in 250 years or so about the nature of modern states and human nature, and hopefully will realize it's time to give up goals of any sort of steady-state nirvana, no matter what ideology is presented.
Well said. Humans remained a flawed species and the Seven Deadly Sins are alive and well no matter political promises, no matter the generation.
TPTB?
The Powers That Be. Well said Hip!
What is TPTD?
TPTB = The powers that be
Yes exactly. TPTB coops everything. Difficult if not impossible to change that given its deep roots in the underlying structure of society, gubberment etc.
“Gubbermint “ lol
Whew! Ok I must be anti anti hip
It's not just that financial crime isn't punished, it's that it's actually rewarded. The US PROMOTES financial crime, as long you're a successful criminal.
The fact that nobody went to jail for the 2008 meltdown greenlighted all future chicanery
You might also add the ouster of Brooksley Borne in 1999 when Greenspan, Rubin, and Summers opposed her over-the-counter derivatives regulation. It is an opaque $600 TRILLION market and completely unregulated. Greenspan, Rubin, Summers . . . scum.
Triple scum, you're right.
The worst is that Summers is being trotted out to give his opinions on "Trump's being mean to Harvard." Summers was intensely disliked when he was at Harvard (but he's disliked everywhere, so there's that), but he's fine to criticize Trump.
True. Reputation? People pretty much assume investment firms are doing shady stuff.
Did it greenlight it it or put it on steroids (accelerated?).
All of the above
As that skinny Zimmerman kid from Minnesota once said “money doesn’t talk; it swears.”
Yep!! "...it's pretty easy to see..without looking to far...that not too much is really sacred..." :)
I think it was "it screams."
Reminds me of the Borowitz report
Dear Goldman Client:
By now, many of you have probably read the regrettable resignation letter published in today’s New York Times by former Goldman executive Greg Smith, explaining why he is leaving the firm after twelve years.
In the letter, in which he excoriates Goldman and his practices, Mr. Smith comes across as a man of conscience, ideals, and high moral standards. And as you read his words, you no doubt asked yourself this troubling question: how could Goldman have hired such a person?
At Goldman, we pride ourselves on our ability to scour the world’s universities and business schools for the finest sociopaths money will buy. Once in our internship program, these youths are subjected to rigorous evaluations to root out even the slightest evidence of a soul. But, as the case of Mr. Smith shows, even the most time-tested system for detecting shreds of humanity can blow a gasket now and then. For that, we can only offer you our deepest apology and the reassurance that one good apple won’t spoil the whole bunch.
As to those of you who were serviced by Mr. Smith, it’s understandable that you would be concerned about who will be taking his place going forward. On that front, I have some exciting news: today, Goldman is pleased to announce that our new executive director and head of the United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa will be Mr. Joseph Kony. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Kony’s resume, let me assure you that he has the character and moral standards you have come to expect from Goldman, and like the rest of us here at the bank, he has dedicated his life to doing the Lord’s work.
Sincerely,
Lloyd Blankfein
And if Goldman were to flirt with financial failure - perish the thought - you know that the Fed would be right there with a bailout. That's how deeply their tentacles extend throughout our financial and business world. And deeply with the Democrat Party.....
It already happened. Their tier 3 securities back in the GFC were so under water they were fully drowning. But Chocolate Jesus and crew bailed them out and they were back to handing out a billion in bonuses shortly thereafter.
Hey! ChocoJesus made bank off those deals that sold out our futures to the bankster class. If you'll recall his immediate payoff was a $65 million book deal. Then Netflix, etc. I hear he's not doing near the bank speech business Hilldawg did but then they thought she had a future.
I've been calling him Half-Black Jesus for a while, and find people respond.
“ chocolate Jesus” lol. Excellent
Who owns the Fed? The same Wall St banks it continues to bail out. With taxpaper money no less. Prove me wrong.
Yep, already happened. This is why AIG was nationalized: Goldman was their biggest client for credit default insurance (CDS).
This applies to everyone in govt. We have congress making money trading stocks they regulate. Look at Nancy Pelosi’s husband and winning track record with options. Options are the riskiest bet in the market. Especially blind options which means you don’t own the underlining stock for the option you are purchasing. It’s almost like playing the lottery yet he constantly wins and his success rate is ridiculous. He may in fact be the most successful options trader of all time as Nancy regulates every company he buys. No investigation. Definitely no prison. I’d say it almost mirrors 1984 that we here are reading right now. The little guy gets the screw while those in power in money and finance keep buying yachts.
Unfortunately, Eric, this is not news. Those of us in the investment industry know that Goldman has been fleecing people for decades, and that they remain untouchable. What would be news is to learn the details of the machinations and manipulation they go through to maintain their exalted position.
They are, the epitome of snobby East Coast, overly educated and overly indulged financial elite. It’s as if they’re entitlement was inbred.
Read or watch “The Firm” - the book is better IMO - and substitute Goldman for the Memphis Lawfirm at the center of the story. Now add at least 3 zeros to all the financials and your are getting close to GS shenanigans . Spoiler Alert - There is NO Mitch McDeere .
Yep.
Eric, It would really help if you would open with some context or at least some links on what the 1MDB scandal is. When an article starts out without the hook, without the "so what", I (and others with limited attention currency to spend) generally delete and go on to the next thing.
The book "Billion Dollar Whale" is an amusing and horrifying look at the massive fraud perpetuated by Malaysian "financier" (I use the term loosely) Jho Low with great assistance provided by Goldman. I read the book, so I readily understood what Eric was reporting. I do agree that context and/or links would have been useful to those unfamiliar with this story.
Agree on the book Billion Dollar Whale. On my watch list is Netflix’s “Man on the Run” documentary. As an aside, Jho Low is a Univ of Pennsylvania grad.
Good point. I zoomed right by it too, because 1MBD was familiar to me, I kind of knew some of the story.
Years ago, there were big problems with Ford's Pinto model. The gas tank was catching fire in rear-end accidents due to a design flaw. Ford executives undertook a study comparing the cost of a recall to fix the problem versus paying settlements to the victims families who were burned alive. They determined paying settlements was cheaper than the cost of the recall.
My point - paying fines and penalties resulting from corruption and illegality is simply a line-item on Goldman's income statement. A recurring cost of doing business.
True. I thought fines relating to criminal matter settlements were not tax deductible. Ie, line item.. someone help me out on this accounting question
Of course nothing will ever happen to GS. Every Fed Chair and or Treasury Secretary has deep connections back to GS The whole 2008 Fiscal Crisis was because those idiots at GS couldn’t stand the CEO of Lehman Bros and they got their buddies at the Fed not to bail them out forgetting how many fucking billions they were at risk too. So when the whole bond market froze up GS was on the verge of fiscal collapse themselves. Yet the Fed’s rode to their rescue pretending it was to bail out the commercial banks forcing those entities to take bailouts from the Treasury to cover up the failure of GS the Fed then printed billions to buy up all the crap bonds GS had on its books.
Personally--that is for myself--when the DNC lie went down to Trump it was like sunrise after a cold and starless night. It seemed our entire Republic was able to breathe again. (Trump is reprieve not salvation.) It is reasonable to think that the extremes of the DNC lie would lead to the over correction We the People are experiencing now. Money is an issue for us all, but the assault on civil liberties is a horror. It is time to look past the D.C./Wall Street grift.
When did the American national conversation begin to include the term "Soros D.A." and who allowed that to happen?
Stealing for GS is like Mark Twain on quitting smoking: "It's easy, I've done it a thousand times".
Goldman Suchs
Thanks Eric for another informed, insightful piece. Really enjoying your work.
I briefly worked in a compliance role at HSBC. Many, many people were being monitored and NOTHING was done other than sending reports to Fintrac, who also then did nothing.
It was a demoralizing experience. The salaries of my department were effectively a service charge enabling the bank to participate in money laundering. And the regulator received the reports and they too were therefore complicit.
I suppose this revealed to me how much the Canadian economy is reliant on foreign money launderers stimulating our economy. Revolting.
Thank you, Eric! Geez!!!!! Appreciate this report.
Goldman has always had really close ties to the Democratic Party. They had big financial giving PACs even back in the 1980s when very few firms on Wall Street had those kind of large scale political operations. I was in public finance and they were very hard to compete with as a result.