tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post9046067525925681376..comments2024-03-14T11:09:32.759-05:00Comments on Falkenblog: Is Goldman Evil?Eric Falkensteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-28266765360395333002009-07-19T10:43:18.745-05:002009-07-19T10:43:18.745-05:00The last statement saying "they make this
mon...The last statement saying "they make this<br />money out of their profits, not taxes" is<br />blatantly false. Depending on how you<br />count they took $12 to $20 billion dollars<br />of tax payer's money just on the bailout<br />of AIG. Please correct.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-91767588361046318382009-07-17T00:15:42.257-05:002009-07-17T00:15:42.257-05:00it's only money.
my "concern" would...it's only money.<br /><br />my "concern" would be the length of their vacations and their working hours.<br />are they on the clock 24/7, feeling the pressure, always a phone call away?<br /><br />or are they playing golf 7 days a week, while some automated system moves our money around?<br /><br />but, as i said, it's only money.<br /><br />time is the more valuable commodity.<br />as any father knows.<br /><br />how much family time do you think these guys get?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-80076713147879194982009-07-16T21:35:56.610-05:002009-07-16T21:35:56.610-05:00Obviously the writer of this blog knows nothing ab...Obviously the writer of this blog knows nothing about the real world. Matt Tiabbi wrote about his thoughts on Goldman and points were made, yet Goldman did not respond. Right or wrong, it is always up to the public to make their own mind, unlike the folks at CNBC that try to sell their ideas to people while NOT being unbiased.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-91999992343148591252009-07-16T15:41:39.043-05:002009-07-16T15:41:39.043-05:00Falkenstein -
try this. Rather than accuse Taibb...Falkenstein -<br /><br />try this. Rather than accuse Taibbi (and you could at least have the decency to spell the man's name right) of running a hatchet job, why don't you respond to his points in this blog entry:<br /><br />http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/07/16/on-goldmans-giganto-profits/<br /><br />You think GS is an example of what happens when a bunch of smart people work to get rich.<br /><br />I think its a result of what happens when the government turns over an obscenely massive amount of taxpayer money and provides loan guarantees so one can borrow for free.<br /><br />But why don't you try to refute the factual assertions in Taibbi's post and explain to us how their success is because they are really smart and not because of enormous government subsidies.<br /><br />Take your time.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13580280749502757814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-40293376101016454292009-07-16T13:28:04.748-05:002009-07-16T13:28:04.748-05:00I have never read this blog before, but it gives t...I have never read this blog before, but it gives the perfect Wall St. amoral answer that doesn't work in a systemic sense.<br /> <br />Capitalism as described by Adam Smith works when people work towards their selfish interests by making stuff other people need, and thus the economy works and grows. That is how self interest works, and in a system with no gov't to socialize the losses, Goldman would be out of business. Goldman uses its connections to further its selfish interests at the expense of the market in general, as trust in the market continues to fall. Taibbi makes a good point that at one time Goldman was more patient and provided a true service in the economy, but now they now see that they system won't hold up much longer so they are getting while the getting is good. They are essentially a parasite on the system and provide very little service as far as a real product to the system in general, unlike say a company like Intel which makes money for itself by selling good chips. Goldman is a perversion of the economic capitalist system as classically described by Smith and it is only able to makes its margins by taking risks that require on a more and more regular additions of gov't money in some form: liquidity, inflation, TARP etc. Its current programmed trading provides an excellent example of no public good and a parasitic effect directly on the NYSE. So long as Goldman continues to function in its current form, the "market" will continue to devolve and the US economy will continue to shrink in real terms and certainly on a per capita basis. <br /><br />The person who writes this probably has not made a product that has created value to the broader market in general, and he can only justify himself by admiring Goldman. <br /><br />You are standing on the shoulders of giants (the founders of this country and market system) who have weak knees from supporting tapeworms like you.Pathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13590835196745483747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-17113141916373503732009-07-16T13:05:04.013-05:002009-07-16T13:05:04.013-05:00Do you actually believe this crap you've writt...Do you actually believe this crap you've written?<br /><br /><i>This is often the case for alpha generators, as for example consider that hedge funds make 2 percent of assets and 20 percent of profits.</i><br /><br />Every reputable study has shown that after fees hedge funds underperform standard indexes. <br /><br />Thus I think you mean alpha destroyers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-75972443100777947152009-07-16T12:42:47.010-05:002009-07-16T12:42:47.010-05:00The answer to your question is YES!!! And most of ...The answer to your question is YES!!! And most of the points you make are pure rhetoric and nothing more than everything is correct because I am doing it!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-49865199232687515702009-07-16T12:27:47.989-05:002009-07-16T12:27:47.989-05:00Collaborators such as yourself will also be 'd...Collaborators such as yourself will also be 'dealt' with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-73113815989557285562009-07-16T11:37:04.541-05:002009-07-16T11:37:04.541-05:00I don't think people who believe in a free mar...I don't think people who believe in a free market system take issue with income based on performance; what they take issue with is income based on preferential treatment (i.e. on connections) and monopoly access. Very basic....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-35893555740627762562009-07-16T11:22:04.454-05:002009-07-16T11:22:04.454-05:00The fact that you ignored so much damning evidence...The fact that you ignored so much damning evidence in your article here suggests to me that you are one of the many "Wall St." types that still suffer from "financial crack" addiction and delusion over the last 15 years or so. The smoke has not quite cleared your brain yet. You do not have the capacity to think clearly and are still stuck in the financial drug smoke haze of yesteryear. Get thee to a clinic!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-47859540636201181382009-07-16T08:47:40.645-05:002009-07-16T08:47:40.645-05:00Simply calling the Taibbi article a "hatchet ...Simply calling the Taibbi article a "hatchet job" doesn't make it one. Why don't you try actually refuting the points in the article? Additionally, you've only attempted (and rather half-assedly at that) to refute one, relating the housing bubble. But "academics" didn't securitize 7% of the loans that led to the crisis, did they?<br /><br />It wouldn't bother me either if they were making money out of their profits. Except the didn't. If it wasn't for the direct capital infusion from .gov (and the over the weekend conversion to a bank holding company giving them access to .gov guarantees and loans) and the back door capital infusion from .gov via AIG, they were done. Bankrupt. Out on their asses like the employees at a Pontiac dealership.<br /><br />So lets not pretend they make their money purely out of their smarts and are entitled to it.<br /><br />If you're ok with socializing the losses but passing the gains on to goldman employees and shareholders, thats certainly your prerogative. But lets not pretend they are doing anything other than gambling and getting a massive reboot from their rich uncle when they crapped out at the tables.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13580280749502757814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-45008769984926618152009-07-16T07:35:21.711-05:002009-07-16T07:35:21.711-05:00How anyone can defend GS is beyond my comprehensio...How anyone can defend GS is beyond my comprehension, and Taibbi is spot on. <br /><br />Seriously, tell me what these people "make"? What do they bring to the economy? Nothing. <br /><br />They have huge pools of money that they shift around and around in a financial slight of hand that bilks the world economy. <br /><br />They inflate speculative bubbles all over the place in stocks, commodities, basically any market anywhere that they can leverage control over through money, government, whatever.<br /><br />Look at the $4 a gallon gas last summer. Look at the real estate bubble. Look at the tech bubble. Meanwhile, they rest of us pay for the insanity they call profits when we buy gas or juice or with our 401K or with the tax-payer funded TARP program and bailouts.<br /><br />Are they bright? Are they talented? Yes. But if a guy who is the brightest and most talented thief robs you - then he is still a thief. <br /><br />The whole notion that these investment bankers are doing economically rational work is absurd.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-13968948780258767272009-07-16T07:13:59.129-05:002009-07-16T07:13:59.129-05:00Goldman is not smarter than you.
Goldman blew it...Goldman is not smarter than you. <br /><br />Goldman blew itself up last year. They blew up. The stock should be zero, their businesses should have been auctioned off and they should have gone the way of Bear and Lehman. They didn't, because the Feds carved out exception after exception for them, handing them free money, and backstopping their losses. This amounted to a deal which resembles the following: go ahead and keep all of your past profits and almost all of your future profits, and we'll make sure your losses are borne by everyone.<br /><br />Why otherwise intelligent people aren't outraged as they churn out $1 billion in profits a month with an implicit government backstop (which their trading partners, clients, and counterparties love) boggles my mind. <br /><br />There's probably no reason to worry. Most people aren't going to hit the streets with pitchforks and torches. Most people will probably let this one pass as they see their 401ks and home values start to recover.<br /><br />But you never know.FischerBlacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-20914488223126737782009-07-16T06:50:50.811-05:002009-07-16T06:50:50.811-05:00Slowly but surely those who used to be taxpayers a...Slowly but surely those who used to be taxpayers and who are now unemployed will have all the time in the world to figure out who stole their money, and their job.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-59736748100025164422009-07-16T06:36:40.676-05:002009-07-16T06:36:40.676-05:00And slowly but surely, in minor and undetectable w...And slowly but surely, in minor and undetectable ways We The People are reading these greedy crooks their last rites. Something has changed in the matrix, they just don't realize they are toast.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-75808437901438456142009-07-16T06:32:36.504-05:002009-07-16T06:32:36.504-05:00Goldman stacks the government. They are making rec...Goldman stacks the government. They are making record money courtesy of the tax payer's bridge loan known as TARP. Also, they are enjoying a below market rate on those FDIC guaranteed bonds.<br /><br />In essence, they are a government guaranteed hedge fund.<br /><br />If people have no problem with the tax payer taking the risk but not the reward then God Bless America -- the gap between the rich and poor just got wider.<br /><br />And it's not you. Its Goldman.___https://www.blogger.com/profile/12474501470962064822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-14145283362696340852009-07-16T06:31:42.284-05:002009-07-16T06:31:42.284-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.___https://www.blogger.com/profile/12474501470962064822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-78753580166407523332009-07-15T13:14:55.700-05:002009-07-15T13:14:55.700-05:00In one way I really admire Goldman Sachs, as peopl...In one way I really admire Goldman Sachs, as people still admire Google and did Microsoft at its heyday, as the apotheosis of organizations supremely run by smart, competent people. In one rare example of a rightist blinder, too many there ascribe a stupidity and a partisanship to the firm that simply isn't evident to me, since I both know a couple of people who work there, and I read the blogs of people who are quite familiar with the pains it takes to curate its institutional advantages. <br /><br />On the other hand many of the firm's luminaries strike me as too amoral for my taste. I feel like they would knowingly sell out the United States to the highest bidder, if only they could be assured that they ran things or received substantial equity stakes in the new enterprise. As evident in many organizations with substantial bureaucracy, I also think the firm incalculates an elitist group-think that is quite dangerous once exposed to our degrading political system through the avenues of lobbyists and Presidential appointments.Billarenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-6711597374945853082009-07-15T09:06:07.588-05:002009-07-15T09:06:07.588-05:00I didn't like the Tiabi article either. I'...I didn't like the Tiabi article either. I'm very much in favor of income inequality. But there was an element that's valid to explore - the government connections angle.<br /><br />I'm no expert on the matter, but I do think there may be some just outrage if Goldman is profiting from the high and increasing state intervention in the financial system. Central banking, pump priming, Keynesianism, quantitative easing are all long run negatives for the US economy. If Goldman is actively encouraging it, and using their political connections to profit from it, then I'd say that's bad. <br /><br />I'm not sure that the US population is against the rising tide of state intervention in the economy, but I'm pretty sure that they don't like seeing people get rich off political connections. Too bad they cannot see that the two are necessarily connected.AHWesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09829802681623277432noreply@blogger.com