Ward on Words

Guess what! After news reports focused attention on the company's unnecessary hoarding practices of metal, Goldman Sachs now pledges a way to make the delays disappear. The news is too late for at least one institution that decided to change a key business practice due to the recent high costs of metal.   I wonder how this will change Goldman's strategic outlook on metals. Perhaps metals are not so lucrative now that the artificial shortage is alleviated?   Metals are not the only market Goldman likes to manipulate. Goldman's sacrificial lamb has been found liable in the massive CDO fraud case that lost one of its clients $1 billion as the same deal gained another client an equal sum. And there are other recent stories about the damage inflicted by Goldman in other areas:  HuffPo notes Goldman's " predatory pursuit of students " in higher ed Washington Post shares Goldman's " long history of duping clients A blogger discusses Goldman a...

Two years ago, I moved from Illinois to North Carolina. It was a jarring move - I'm a life-time resident of the Land of Lincoln, a state where politics are considered a true sporting event. Yet despite the state-wide passion for political sport, governance of that state is at an all-time low. Governors tend to end up in jail. Illinois is facing a terrible fiscal crisis caused by unfunded pensions. Pat Quinn, Illinois' current governor, is now withholding legislator salaries until the passage of pension reform; House Speaker Mike Madigan, the most powerful man in the state, has filed suit because he wants his paycheck regardless of whether or not a significant, long-term problem is solved for the state. Because of the serious and ongoing political issues of Illinois, I was, to be frank, looking forward to a change of pace.  And the Tar Heel state CERTAINLY has provided that for me... in spades! The GOP has taken charge - and as a colleague told me the other day, the state to...