Possibly my two favorite things are 80s music and Goldman Sachs-related grandiosity. So, a combo is a special treat. We have them together with the BBC-broadcasted-boastings of independent trader Alessio Rastani. Rastani proudly proclaimed today,
“This is not a time right now for wishful thinking that governments are going to sort things out . . The governments don’t rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world.”
You’ve got to give this guy credit. The bar was pretty high over at Goldman, what with Blankfein doing God’s work and Tourre deeming himself the “fabulous Fab.” The interview is jam-packed with other gems, and it will probably go viral soon, so it’s worth watching. What about the 80′s music? Tears for Fears, of course: Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
There is a lot to mourn and to fear in the brief interview with Rastani. The context alone is disturbing — the continued financial crisis that will soon be amplified with the problems in the Eurozone. Perhaps the most troubling is the flat out admission that:
“For most traders we don’t really care about having a fixed economy, having a fixed situation, our job is to make money from it.”
I guess this guy, as an outsider, did not get the memo that the firm was trying to live down the “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity” reputation. Truly, this is the kind of thing that should be wiki-leaked, not shared in the bright lights of a global news network.
Update: The trader is identified as independent, not a Goldman employee.
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