God and Goldman

It happened again!   Somebody mentioned God and Goldman in the same sentence.

Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, in parrying criticism about Goldman's role in the financial crisis where it made a bundle by taking a big short on the US housing market at a time when it was selling housing exposed securites to its clients ( i.e. it was betting against the very products it was selling to its clients) had said:

"Goldman was doing God's work"

Now Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York, a billionaire and  ex-investment banker himself and founder of Bloomberg - the world biggest financial news organisation - has come out defending Blankfein saying;



Lloyd Blankfien
CEO Goldman Sachs



"(Blankfein) is trying to lead the firm at a time when God couldn't lead it without being criticised"

This followed the much publicised resignation last week of a senior executive of Goldman Sachs who wrote a piece in the New York Times explaining why he was walking out on Goldman Sachs after 12 years because:

"Blankfein was presiding over a toxic culture in which bankers were ripping off clients and referring to them as 'muppets'.

God has handled successfully many things much more complicated than managing Goldman Sachs, even though He never claimed to be an Investment Banker and His profession on earth was a preacher and the son of a poor carpenter. 

But because it is Blankfein that is leading Goldman and because he is NOT doing God's work, Blankfein has been making the wrong choice in putting Goldman in a long term conflict with the interest of their clients.

Goldman have to choose whether to make their core business serving clients through their undoubted financial expertise or to run the most profitable proprietary trading desk making profits by exploiting clients.  God would make any easy choice if He were managing Goldman.