Goldman Sachs: vampire or venture capitalist?

It didn't sound like US money manager, Michael Holland, was being ironic when he described Goldman Sachs as "the smartest guys in the room" for piling up income of US$3.4 billion in the three months to June 26 - an 89 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

The 'smartest guys in the room' tag, of course, is now inextricably linked with the Enron executives and their "faulty and corrupt business practices", which led to a financial scandal that has since been eclipsed by Madoff et al.

Holland wasn't for one minute suggesting Goldman Sachs was faulty and/or corrupt, he was merely expressing an admiration (mixed with jealousy) for fellow investment professionals. However, in this wonderfully bilious piece Rolling Stone contributor Matt Taibbi, fingers Goldman Sachs as the source of all financial evil.

In his second paragraph of the story titled 'The great American bubble machine' Taibbi launches straight into it, with this visceral description of Goldman Sachs: "The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."

Great stuff, the rest of the story's pretty good too, as it explains how a vampire can extract nourishment from a bubble. An article  in the UK Daily Telegraph, offers an alternative explanation, positing that Goldman Sachs just might be "damn good at what it does".

The two conclusions may not be mutually exclusive.

David Chaplin

Pictured: The Wall St bull. Photo/AP