The tenor of Ed's show has to do with the way greed has become dominant in the culture of large corporations and banks (like Goldman Sachs). Goldman Sachs does pay its risk-taking employees very large bonuses which then become the incentive to take even more risks. But when Goldman Sachs becomes less profitable, the company immediately lays off workers in order to keep profits up. It is always: Profit over People with Goldman.
See the video here
3 COMMENTS:
Wisconsin Gov. Wants Protesters To Pay For Security
The Wisconsin State Capitol building has been the scene of protests since February, when Gov. Scott Walker started the process of passing a law that severely limits collective bargaining for public employees in the state.
Yesterday, the Walker administration took a step that is likely to antagonize protesters further. His administration enacted new regulations that would require permits to protest at the Capitol and other state buildings.
The controversial part is that the bill allows officials to charge groups for the security and clean-up costs of such events.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/02/143059352/wisconsin-gov-wants-protesters-to-pay-for-security-clean-up
Is Crony Capitalism Wrong?
Breach of Then Treasury Secretary Paulson's Duty as a Public Steward
This is from the Department of Treasury's website:
"Treasury's mission highlights its role as the steward of U.S. economic
and financial systems, and as an influential participant in the world
economy."
It seems to me that the secretary of the treasury is a civil servant
and a public steward. When then Secretary Paulson offered material
non-public information to hedge fund managers that could profit by
trading shares (initiating new shorts) of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
while telling the public a different story, he breached those duties.
Public service is just a social contract, and as one fund manager observed, "So are the Ten Commandments."
What do we, as Americans, stand for and how much of this can we
stand? What are we willing to tolerate or not tolerate from our public
servants? Where did we go so wrong that congressional staffers -- most
probably errand boys -- imply that crony capitalism is business as
usual?
In case our politicians or their staffers may have any remaining questions, let me be clear.
The above meeting is an example of crony capitalism, and it is wrong.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-tavakoli/is-crony-capitalism-wrong_b_1127166.html
Hank Paulson's Crony Capitalism
In July 2007,
Bush tapped Paulson, then the head of Goldman Sachs, to guide the
nation's economy. To his nomination ceremony Paulson invited his friend
and hand-selected successor to helm the investment bank, Lloyd
Blankfein. And as the financial crisis unfolded, Paulson repeatedly
acted as though he were still a partner at the firm that made him a $700
million man. According to Paulson's own memoir,
Blankfein kept on him on speed dial. On a Saturday morning in mid-March
2008, the chairman of Goldman Sachs called the Treasury secretary, at
his home, to demand the Bush administration find a buyer for faltering
investment bank Bear Stearns — to whose debt Goldman was significantly exposed.
"Lloyd went over the market with me," Paulson writes, "His
conclusion was apocalyptic. The market expected a Bear rescue. If there
wasn’t one all hell would break loose." Goldman got its wish, Treasury
married off Bear to rival JP Morgan — after agreeing to make taxpayers
responsible for up to $30 billion in Bear’s bad debts, then a record
bailout.
Three months later, during a state visit to Moscow in June 2008
that coincided with a Goldman board meeting in the Russian capital,
Paulson invited his former partners to his room at the Grand Marriott
for an off-the-record — and off-the-official-calendar — powwow. "Let’s
keep this quiet," Paulson’s chief of staff told his Goldman counterpart,
according to Andrew Ross Sorkin’s book Too Big to Fail. Paulson
greeted Blankfein & Co. with bear hugs and proceeded to give his
old firm an insider briefing on Treasury’s overview of the state of the
economy and the likelihood of further bailouts. His ex-colleagues
pressed him for details on Lehman Brothers.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/hank-paulsons-crony-capitalism-20111201#ixzz1fWequkC0
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