By: Ed Attwood
Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com
Category: Film School Online
Oliver Stone has a lot to answer for. While ‘Wall Street ’— the film he wrote and directed in 1987 — argues against the short-term fast-buck culture made infamous by that decade’s corporate raiders, it also spawned the character of Gordon Gekko. “Greed, for want of a better word, is good,” said Gekko, in one of the film’s immortal lines. “Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the revolutionary spirit.”
An entire generation appears to have followed in Gekko’s immaculately crafted brogues. Where once the realm of finance was considered something of a dreary occupation, it is now the sector of choice for the brightest and best graduates, many of whom have taken up positions either at hedge funds or at vast investment banks like JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch. But no one company appears to have personified the Gekko spirit quite as much as Goldman Sachs.
It is astonishing just how influential the investment bank has been. Other than former treasury secretary Hank Paulson, who — you may recall — was kind enough to bail out Goldman with $10bn in state-backed funds, the bank’s alumni include Joshua Bolten, former White House chief of staff, and Mark Carney, the governor of the Canadian central bank. In addition, Mario Draghi — the governor of the European Central Bank — and new Italian prime minister Mario Monti are also former Goldman employees.
While criticism of Goldman practices has largely been left to outside players — with Rolling Stone magazine once infamously describing the bank as “a giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity” — it was pretty refreshing to read last week’s letter from Greg Smith. After twelve years at the company, the Goldman director decided to quit last Wednesday, calling the environment at the bank “as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it”.
Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/sucking-client-dry-450053.html
Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com
Category: Film School Online
Oliver Stone has a lot to answer for. While ‘Wall Street ’— the film he wrote and directed in 1987 — argues against the short-term fast-buck culture made infamous by that decade’s corporate raiders, it also spawned the character of Gordon Gekko. “Greed, for want of a better word, is good,” said Gekko, in one of the film’s immortal lines. “Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the revolutionary spirit.”
An entire generation appears to have followed in Gekko’s immaculately crafted brogues. Where once the realm of finance was considered something of a dreary occupation, it is now the sector of choice for the brightest and best graduates, many of whom have taken up positions either at hedge funds or at vast investment banks like JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch. But no one company appears to have personified the Gekko spirit quite as much as Goldman Sachs.
It is astonishing just how influential the investment bank has been. Other than former treasury secretary Hank Paulson, who — you may recall — was kind enough to bail out Goldman with $10bn in state-backed funds, the bank’s alumni include Joshua Bolten, former White House chief of staff, and Mark Carney, the governor of the Canadian central bank. In addition, Mario Draghi — the governor of the European Central Bank — and new Italian prime minister Mario Monti are also former Goldman employees.
While criticism of Goldman practices has largely been left to outside players — with Rolling Stone magazine once infamously describing the bank as “a giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity” — it was pretty refreshing to read last week’s letter from Greg Smith. After twelve years at the company, the Goldman director decided to quit last Wednesday, calling the environment at the bank “as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it”.
Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/sucking-client-dry-450053.html
