11 January 2010

Financial Coup d'Etat: A Simple, Credible Explanation of What Happened (and Some Ideas About How to Fix It)


Here is an excerpt from the transcript of Bill Moyer's Journal of January 8, 2010.

"Thanks to taxpayers like you who generously bailed banking from the financial shipwreck it created for itself and for us, by the end of 2009 the industry's compensation pool reached nearly $200 billion. And despite windfall profits, the banks will claim almost $80 billion in tax deductions. And nearly $20 billion of those deductions will go to just three institutions — Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs.

Ah, yes — Goldman Sachs, that paragon of profit and probity — which bet big on the housing bubble and when it popped — presto! — converted itself from an investment firm into a bank so it could get your bailout money. Now consider this: in 2008, Goldman Sachs paid an effective tax rate of just one percent. I'm not making that up — one percent! — while their CEO Lloyd Blankfein pulled down over $40 million. That's God's work, if you can get it. And, believe me, Wall Street bankers know how to get it..."

You can read the full transcript, and watch the video of his show here.

The links for part two and his summary are in the title bar above the video screen.

If you find this to be worthwhile, send a copy of this to everyone you know who might be interested in this.