PARADISE LOST

I read on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times yesterday an article by Greg Smith, "Why I am Leaving Goldman Sachs". Then today, I note, the world press is picking up on it with commentary, pro and con.

Smith is a South African of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who obviously is bright and talented. He got a full ride to Stanford, was a Bronze Medalist in table tennis in the Maccabiah Games (the Jewish Olympics)and a Rhodes Scholar finalist. He had been with Goldman Sachs almost twelve years, recruited as a summer intern while at Stanford and then joining the firm after graduation. As of yesterday, he left the company.

All kinds of opinions are being bandied about regarding his article. Some skeptics say he was bitter at being dead-ended and passed over for a more senior position; others say he is naive and doesn't understand how the game is played. Quite a few others express admiration for his willingness to put himself on the firing line and live by his principles. To quote him, "Goldman Sachs today has become too much about shortcuts and not enough about achievement." He decries the reigning philosophy of making money any way you can and to hell with the clients, whom they describe by insulting nicknames like "Muppets".

Goldman Sachs has been under continuing investigation for its cynical policy of loading clients with derivatives and other nasty financial schemes like subprime mortgages---and then going against them by expecting and betting on the market to fall. Would you call that a slight case of conflict of interest?

To me it speaks of the prevalent attitude in our business society of today of "morality, be damned, full speed ahead to profits by any means". I've often said my age is showing when I recall in my earlier business dealings, a handshake meant trust and integrity. Care to try that today?

Greg Smith is now coming out of the Garden of Eden, eyes wide open, principles bruised and future clouded because of his lost "innocence". It is a very sad morality tale.