Happy New Year from Goldman Sachs!

Tom Gregory, 12.31.2009

Actor, radio personality, and Tony nominated producer

...

A Government Takeover of the Government

B. Jeffrey Madoff, 12.31.2009

Founder of Madoff Productions

As we had our holiday dinner together, my kids asked me why billions can be spent on an expanding war, bailing out the auto industry and the banks, but when it comes to health care, people are afraid of a "government takeover."

The Buck Stops With Us

Andrew Sargus Klein, 12.30.2009

Managing Editor, Splice Today

After the passage of historic health care reform there will still remain very tough questions on the direction of our economy and the steps to take. But good will - charity - does exist.

2010 Will be Challenging for Goldman Sachs

Dear John Thain, 12.31.2009

Writer of anonymous blog Dear John Thain

Although it has survived the credit crisis, paid back the treasury in short order, and continues to make money, Goldman's future looks to be very rocky.

A Decade Far Worse Than a "Big Zero" (1999-2009)

Joseph A. Palermo, 12.29.2009

Author/Associate Professor of History

We can call the 2000s the "Worse Than Zero" decade or the "Big Zero," or anything we wish, but what characterized it most for me was the near total control of corporations, especially over our civic institutions.

Taxing Wall Street's Bonuses Should Focus On Clawbacks

Raymond J. Learsy, 12.29.2009

Scholar and author, "Over a Barrel: Breaking Oil’s Grip on Our Future"

Taxing or reducing this year's Wall Street bonuses is but an irritant for bankers if they can safely hold on to the hundred's of billions paid out over the past few years of fraudulent "banking".

New York Needs Wall Street

Charles Gasparino, 12.28.2009

Author, The Sellout

I give David Paterson an "A" for honesty. He's possibly the only liberal politician willing to admit publicly that the greed merchants on Wall Street are a necessary evil for big government liberalism to survive.

Big Derivatives Risks Loom For Banks

Dan Dorfman, 12.28.2009

Financial Columnist, Market Commentator.

The threat of severe derivatives losses this year is on the horizon, stemming from what one analyst sees as the inevitability of higher interest rates, which could trigger a new crisis.

Responding to Goldman Sachs

Janet Tavakoli, 12.26.2009

President, Tavakoli Structured Finance, Inc.

If Wall Street -- and especially Goldman Sachs -- had not manufactured value-destroying securities and related credit derivatives, the money supply for bad loans would have been choked off years earlier.

Christmas 2009: We Know Who's Been Naughty... Nice Is a Little Harder to Find

Arianna Huffington, 12.26.2009

Time for my annual tradition of getting gifts for my favorite -- and not so favorite -- public figures, including Larry Summers whom I'm getting a Goldman Sachs pension (after all, he's earned it). READ MORE Newsmakers Roasting on an Open Fire: Your Gift Ideas for 2009's Naughty and Nice Here are your gift suggestions, including a GPS for Barack Obama, to show him the way from Wall Street to Main Street (submitted by manx). READ MORE The Senate Health Care Bill: Leave No Special Interest Behind There are many reasons for hoping the Senate health care bill doesn't become the law of the land. But the biggest reason of all is the desperate need for a DC pattern interrupt. READ MORE

Christmas and the Plight of Problem Gamblers

Don McNay, 12.23.2009

Award-winning financial columnist, author, commentator and personal finance guru.

The games that have been legalized market to those on the "wrong side of the economic table." There have been few, if any, moves by states to monitor the losing of their lottery customers.

Goldman Sachs Helps 10,000 Women, Including Orphanage Director Andeisha Farid

Jim Luce, 12.29.2009

Thought Leaders and Global Citizens

In March 2008, Goldman Sachs announced a significant new initiative called 10,000 Women that has two goals: To increase the number of underserved wo...

Treasury Cover-Up of Goldman's Role in AIG Crisis?

Janet Tavakoli, 12.22.2009

President, Tavakoli Structured Finance, Inc.

Goldman paid mega bonuses in past years subsidized by selling hot air. Now it proposes to again pay billions in bonuses based on earnings made possible by taxpayer dollars.

What Do Professional Athletes Have in Common With Bankers?

Daniel Adler, 12.22.2009

Co-President of the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective

Wall Street firms such as AIG, which received $90 billion in government funds, and sports teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, who received $325 million to build the Cowboys Stadium, have more in common than being run by white males.

Andeisha Farid and the Orphaned Children of Afghanistan

Jim Luce, 12.22.2009

Thought Leaders and Global Citizens

I met "Orphans Hero" Andeisha Farid this fall when she was in town as part of Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Women Program. Then I saw her on Brian Williams' ...

The Obama Doctrine: Pen, Sword and Soap Box

Michael B. Laskoff, 12.20.2009

"...content against obedience..." W.S.

For some people, the assent of the Obama Doctrine will be uncomfortable: it's designed for a world rendered in shades of gray, not the black and white of easy demagoguery. Nevertheless, subtle should not be confused with weak.

The Goldman Sachs Investment You Haven't Heard About Yet

Dan Silverstein, 12.23.2009

Managing Member of Heuristic Management, LLC.

Of all the possibilities this storied bastion of testosterone production might have selected, educating women entrepreneurs surely qualifies as one of the more astounding.

Left, Right & Center: Health Care, Copenhagen, Fat Cat Bankers

Huff Radio, 12.18.2009

As the left positions itself to fight for a public option will the health care reform baby go down with the bathwater? And what about those fat cat bankers who Obama scolded?

Happy Holidays from America's Banks

Michael Winship, 12.19.2009

Senior writer at Bill Moyers Journal on PBS

Never mind Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope. It's the audacity of the banks that takes your breath away.

Have We Forgotten How To March?

Les Leopold, 12.21.2009

Author, "The Looting of America"

Was the president signaling that it was time for progressives to form a visible protest movement against "fat cat bankers"?

The Parable of the Unmerciful Bankers

Jim Wallis, 12.17.2009

Founder of Sojourners; speaker, author, activist

It's estimated that the bonus pool of just one of these big banks would have been enough money to prevent or significantly delay foreclosure for all 2.3 million people who lost their homes last year.