tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4030388666382918203.post5860329380273859454..comments2023-09-02T09:53:58.930-04:00Comments on Future News Today: Goldman Sachs: Wall St. GangstasFrank Hopehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01610256051568976952noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4030388666382918203.post-86172011194907071952010-04-16T17:07:13.660-04:002010-04-16T17:07:13.660-04:00So what dreaded punishment do they have to look fo...So what dreaded punishment do they have to look forward to on civil fraud charges, other than a monetary fine? Must be a really scary time for those charlatans since they're no doubt struggling to make ends meet like the rest of the average folks who lost their homes, their jobs, and most, if not all their retirement in the financial meltdown of our country.<br />They should be sent to prison just like that other Wall Street bird, Bernie Madoff. Guess it just depends on who you're chummy with as to the severity of the 'punishment' Or lack of I should say.katzmeowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16316257638575145534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4030388666382918203.post-80518972110026517232009-04-17T10:43:00.000-04:002009-04-17T10:43:00.000-04:00Hi ron_o,
Thanks for your comment. At the beginni...Hi ron_o,<br /><br />Thanks for your comment. At the beginning of your comment you seem to be disputing the idea that GS used government contacts to increase its profits, but by the end of your comment you seem to agree that GS did benefit from its influence in the government. So I really don't know how to respond directly to your comment.<br /><br />I can tell you that since I wrote this article I learned that the Chairman of the New York Fed, Stephen Friedman, is also on the board of GS. (See <A HREF="http://futurenewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/10/goldman-sachs-ber-alles.html" REL="nofollow">this article</A>.) So yes GS does have direct access to insider information regarding Fed policy. In fact the current New York Fed President who replaced Tim Geithner is also a GS alum. (See <A HREF="http://futurenewstoday.blogspot.com/2009/01/goldman-sachs-secret-handshake.html" REL="nofollow">this article</A>.) And it is significant to note that the New York Fed President has a permanent seat on the FOMC which determines monetary policy.<br /><br />As for AIG, I gather from the reading that I have done that after 2005 they began to scale back on their activities because they started taking losses. I also suspect that GS may have shorted AIG in 2008 while pressuring AIG to come up with more collateral on its CDSs. (See <A HREF="http://futurenewstoday.blogspot.com/2009/03/did-goldman-sachs-precipitate-fall-of.html" REL="nofollow">this article</A>.)<br /><br />So is there a conspiracy? And is it an "open" (overt) conspiracy or a "closed" (covert) conspiracy? I would say that there is definitely a conspiracy involving GS (and other financial oligarchs) and government officials. I would say that this has been done in a covert way in the past, but that now with the financial crisis the conspiracy is being exposed. And that is very good news.<br /><br />The troubling question that remains is whether the conspirators are "too big to jail". (See <A HREF="http://futurenewstoday.blogspot.com/2009/04/bill-moyers-becomes-conspiracy-theorist.html" REL="nofollow">this article</A>.)Frank Hopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01610256051568976952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4030388666382918203.post-68790612281936401342009-04-15T11:51:00.000-04:002009-04-15T11:51:00.000-04:00"Was this really because the GS gang was the ..."Was this really because the GS gang was the "smartest" in 2007, or did it have insider information from the Treasury Dept. and the Federal Reserve that allowed it to time the market?"<br /><br /><br />That's a funny one there. As if the Fed knew more than Goldman. After all you *are* saying that Goldman has is the fed in essence. <br /><br />Anyway, this brought to mind a few things. For one, AIG had to know that Goldman was shorting supbrime. How? By buying Credit Default Swaps in mass quantity. For the uninitiated, CDSs are just complicated insurance policies against a companies demise or inability to pay.<br /><br />So AIG knew they were shorting subprime. I can't imagine that AIG wouldn't know, or didn't care that Goldman was shorting what both of them were selling. <br /><br />No doubt they both knew the Gov. would have to bail them out. So instead of stopping their risky behaviour in 2006 they both decided to increase it. That way the Gov. would have *no* choice but to save them, or lose their own power. <br /><br />But they needed no one to tell them how to act or when. All they had to do was go back to the S&L buyout back in the 80s and see how the Gov. saved the country from failing. <br /><br />End of story. No need for an insidious conspiracy theory. Actually it was an open conspiracy if anything. <br /><br />ron_oAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com