Nathan Scandella (personal)

Goldman Sachs Really Is Doing God's Work

The CEO of Goldman Sachs recently stated that his firm is doing God's work, and that they actually have a social purpose. On the surface, that seems like a hard statement to justify. Even I would probably be quicker to label Blankfein as Beelzebub, rather than a worker for the Lord. But, after some quiet contemplation, I think I'm ready to agree with Mr. Beelzebub (er, Blankfein).

I can't really come up with a better analogy for investment banking than religion. Both are centuries-old oligarchies, who suppress the masses to maintain their own antiquated power structures. Both take from the masses under the pretense of actually giving something back. Both operate under veils of secrecy. Both have their tentacles wrapped around our political leaders, who are supposed to be operating independently from the worlds of both organized religion, and private finance. Both have thrown up enormous roadblocks towards making progress on environmental issues. Both operate based on a highly suspect doctrine of quasi-science. Religion calls it "Intelligent Design", while Finance calls it "Economics".

So, Lloyd, for once, I agree with you. By helping sack the world's economy, taking government bailout money and then lavishly rewarding your own true believers, you truly are doing God's work ... one $700k bonus at a time.

Posted at 01:45PM Nov 09, 2009 by Nathan in Economics  |  Comments[0]