Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Tallest Midget

My sources at these firms tell me they’re all aware of the obvious: The news clips, the stories, the TV segments about the hearings all focused on Blankfein’s absurd AIG defense or his explanation of how it’s OK to screw your customers because they’re “professional investors.” How about Dimon’s reasonable suggestion that banks should be able to fail, as long as they don’t flush the entire system down with them, or Mack’s mea culpa that Wall Street risk-taking was at the heart of the financial crisis?

Those statements were drowned out by Blankfein’s defense of the indefensible. Goldman may have been the best of a bad lot, as Blankfein said, but that’s like saying it’s great to be the tallest midget in the room.