> I do understand that the govt is shy about prosecuting Goldman. What I
> don't get is how they're still in business.
>
> I mean, what events continue to show is that Goldman is perfectly
> willing to screw over its clients in order to make big bucks for
> themselves. So why would you want them to invest your money? I mean if
> I were a gazillionaire, I wouldn't trust Goldman.
Goldman has only to point to their permanent government backstop that guarantees even their riskiest gambles to convince their clientele that they're almost the only game in town.
> One possibility, say for pension funds, is that Goldman is bribing
> those who manage those funds to entrust them with investment strategy
> because, after all, why would pension fund managers necessarily care
> that the funds become depleted or bankrupt....so long as they get
> their bonuses and golden parachutes. But Goldman has screwed real
> customers whose real businesses have gone bankrupt and whose CEO's
> were left with nothing....so....?
I don't think the number of CEO's that were left without a chair when the music stops is high enough to scare away most of them. You just have to be arrogant enough to think that it won't be you, and I imagine arrogance is in abundance in the boardrooms of the world.