Goldman Sachs (posted by DT)

I'm not in the financial services field and don't pretend to understand things too well there, but I'll admit to lots of populist-style rage at the Wall Street Masters of the Universe who had so much to do with the most recent financial crisis. So naturally I was thrilled to see the SEC pursuing civil charges against Goldman Sachs for defrauding investors by betting heavily against securities that they were themselves marketing to investors. I'd get lots of pleasure in seeing someone go to jail too, though I'm not at all sure anyone did anything criminal in all this.

Still, what boggles my mind in reading stuff about Goldman Sachs (this here is my favorite, long but really readable and anger-producing: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/;kw=[3351,11459];jsessionid=2049A274F095F3011DE8362091478785), is that anyone still invests with these guys. Is Goldman really the only game in town? Why would anyone in their right mind enter into business with a company that has a long and storied history of ripping people off and taking all their money?

My Big Business-favoring conservative friends are always waxing on about how the smart guys in the financial industry have produced so much great innovation that benefits us all. I should mention that I buy this argument in the abstract: capitalism requires greedy people to innovate and increase efficiency, which should lift all the boats with its rising tide. But in practice in the 2000s it's pretty clear to me that all the innovation on Wall Street has produced is enormous profits for a small group and absolutely nothing for the rest of us.

Anyway, my prescription is this: I think everyone should stop doing business with Goldman Sachs and drive them into bankruptcy. Not because they're immoral, greedy, or evil exactly- this isn't really a moral crusade- rather because doing business with them isn't very healthy for their partners.