Goldman Sachs CEO: "We Participated In Things That Were Clearly Wrong"

Goldman Sachs is not exactly a darling in the eyes of the public right now.

Many people feel as though Goldman Sachs is a company with no conscience that was partially responsible for the near-collapse of the US (and global) economy.

Many people feel as though Goldman Sachs gamed the system during the 2008 meltdown, using their widespread contacts in Washington to secure a multi-billion dollar bailout of AIG that helped to make Goldman Sachs whole.

Many people are outraged that Goldman Sachs will pay out about $20 billion dollars in compensation expenses in 2009, despite being just a year removed from accepting $10 billion dollars as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

It's tough to argue with any of these points. As a matter of fact, it's impossible to argue any of these points.

Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, says that the company's reputation is "very important to us."

While the company is not very popular at all right now (understatement of the century), Goldman Sachs is looking to at least blunt some of the criticism that is being directed at the company.

How are they looking to do this?

To start, apparently Goldman Sachs (along with Warren Buffett) will be providing aid to small businesses in an effort to "blunt pay backlash".

If this isn't enough, Goldman Sachs has something else for you - an apology.

Blankfein, at a recent conference in New York, said that "we participated in things that were clearly wrong" (referring to the firm's role in some of the activities that led to the financial crisis), and that "we apologize".

Does this apology make you feel any better? I mean, if you are reading this article, then there is a good chance that you are American, which means that you directly contributed to the bailout of AIG, which means that you directly contributed to the bailout of Goldman Sachs.

Does this apology make you feel any better about the fact that Goldman Sachs is going to pay out $20 billion+ in compensation when the national unemployment rate is over 10%?

Does this apology make you feel any better about the fact that Goldman Sachs has not changed its ways one bit, despite the fact that the company was nearly incinerated during the height of the financial meltdown?

Maybe it's just me, but the words from Blankfein seem just a bit hollow.

Source: Bloomberg.com - Blankfein Apologizes for Goldman Sachs Role in Crisis

Photo: andruby

Filed under: General Market News