Goldman Sachs: Business as Usual
In this week's issue of New York, Joe Hagan pens a long piece about Goldman Sachs, "America's most successful, cynical, envied, despised, and (in its view, anyway) misunderstood engine of capitalism." But if you were thinking that the last year of turmoil—or the unprecedented blow to Goldman's reputation in recent months—has changed things at the storied firm, well, you needn't worry:
In the end, Goldman's reputation is a luxury they may well be able to do without...
[A] person who frequently talks to senior executives at Goldman sums up the company's attitude this way: "If we can push the envelope without D.C. punishing us, we don't care about our Main Street reputation." Blankfein in particular is said to be dismissive of the firm's critics. According to a person close to him, the CEO believes Goldman's internal problems will disappear once compensation comes back. In other words, money will solve everything.
And you were worried last fall that the culture of Wall Street had been changed forever!
