Goldman Sachs as a Fellow in the Corrupted Money System

Jesse's Café Américain blog has an interesting write-up and a video dealing with "financial fraud, moral hazard and the psychology of a cheater."  He says, "There is a fellowship of mutual corruption at the heart of the money system."

Lauren Lyster Interviews Dan Ariely on Financial Fraud, Moral Hazard, and the Psychology of the Cheater
By Jesse's  Café Américain - Jesse's Crossroads Cafe
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But there are times when corruption and callous greed becomes more tolerated, and a larger segment of the population that is not amoral, but is perhaps morally ambivalent or suggestible, joins in on the action and tries to get theirs. And the guilt which they feel often turns into a mean-spirited contempt and anger against their own victims.

"Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many grows cold."
I found some of the examples of corporate accounting corruption in this discussion to be interesting. I have seen some of it first hand. This sort of corruption distorts markets, undermines the capitalist system of competition, and destroys whole companies and even industries.

I knew that Erskine Bowles was on the board of Morgan Stanley, but I did not know that his wife is on the board of JP Morgan. It is an interwoven world of mutual benefits and interconnecting interests at the top.

The current climate amongst the power elite is one of personal entitlement based on rationalization as described by Dr. Ariely, and assumptions of a natural superiority, self-portraying their actions even to the point of benevolence and civic spirit, guiding the poor helpless sub-humans who are incapable of self-governance and perhaps not even worthy of freedom: useless eaters. I call it the Tsar Nicholas complex.

Read the article and view the video here