Evan Newmark writes a regular column on the WSJ’s Deal Journal. His stock in trade is contrarian takes on the markets and politics. To the extent that he represents an extreme version of the Wall Street world view, he’s a bellwether.
Yesterday, he may have run the bell a bit too hard. In a post explaining why Goldman Sachs has nothing to apologize for–a completely legitimate position that can be debated with great nuance from both sides–Newmark insists on rolling this M-80 under the chairs of his readers:
In an economy full of losers, everyone is fixated on hating the winner.
He’s right about the world fixating on a winner. Goldman has made itself a lightning rod for the nation’s frustrations by being particularly ham-handed in their handling of their compensation. But that isn’t the issue here.
Where does Newmark get off describing the US as an economy full of losers? Does he not recognize that the vast majority of workers at all salary, skill and social levels who are out of work right now have lost their jobs due to the miscalculations and mismanagement of others?
The decisions that led to their dire financial situations certainly were not theirs. The loss of their jobs didn’t come because they were incompetent or made lousy products. You could blame them if those problems appeared over time as with the automakers but this is a collapse, an exogenous event in their working lives.
It’s bad enough that the world economy was mismanaged to a level that created a disruption that will fall disproportionately on persons who had no role in creating the bubble or reaping its rewards. That may be unfortunate and unavoidable. But do they really deserve to have Marie Antoinette Newmark call them “losers?”
Later, Newmark sums up with a thought that applies equally (in reverse) to himself:
It's much easier for the public to point the finger at the great Goldman conspiracy than to point it at itself.
Source: Don’t Apologize for Anything, Goldman Sachs EVAN NEWMARK Deal Journal/Wall Street Journal ; Nov. 19, 2009 http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/11/18/mean-street-dont-apologize-for-anything-goldman-sachs/?mod=djemDeal
“In an economy full of losers, everyone is fixated on hating the winner.”
wow- what a douchbag- would Goldman “suck off the government” Sachs- be in business right now w/o taxpayer assistance and inside “sweet” info to guarantee almost 100% trading success-
those ass holes could burst in flames and i would not do one thing to put the fire out
Well said Marion.
When will we begin to tax the greed?
Greed is not a virtue. Politicians have considerably less trouble selling a sin tax to the public compared to other taxes for good causes like school millages. When will they realize that declaring a War on Greed with a Sin Tax is the answer to all the outrage directed at the Wall Street crowd? If they can turn the greed drive into a force benefitting society as a whole, then the greedy can be allowed to pursue what makes them happy, and they can give up 50% of their profits to help the common good.
What, you say this will stifle business and punish talented people? Guess what, business is already stifled, and the so called talented people have been punishing the rest of us for it.
“The ‘Real’ Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed”- Yahoo Finance
i guess all these folks are losers-
GS- now there’s a winner-
i wonder if anyone and everyone could have been as successful w/ the same inside information and unlimited access to government zero percent money
i almost certaiun we all would have all had banner no-risk returns- just like GS
Yeah, I think that’s it. Goldman is the big winner and everyone else is a bunch of losers. They should go with that.
I can just imagine the PR campaign to go with that. FUCK YOU WORLD — YOU BUNCH OF LOSERS!
Keep pokin’ that tiger, baby.
maybe I should have put this post in here instead of Aja thread http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/wednesday-reading-asia-edition/#comment-235872
heres a thought – if need be – dismantle my building for its commodities and live in a tent – next to a bigger garden – less property taxes that way .. is that a way to proceed in a world that has everything it needs at prices better than what can be justified here? KISS.
Amen. I don’t know anyone with talent or skills that hasn’t been laid off at least once. Yes, they tend to find new jobs quickly, particularly if they aren’t tied to a house or particular community, but it really sucks.
Like all those “losers” who work at Simmons (mattress maker) who have been fired after the 5th private equity firm bought them. When the 1st PE firm bought them – they had no debt.
Now 5 PE transactions later – “gee, we have to trim costs in order to service the gagillion dollars in debt the company now has.”
Losers.
Wouldn’t it be sweet justice for Evan Newmark to get a pink slip at WSJ? Then he joins the so-called “losers”.
while, personally, I think GS should be BK, along with the rest of the clowns that broke their Balance Sheets..
There’s something about this:
“Does he not recognize that the vast majority of workers at all salary, skill and social levels who are out of work right now have lost their jobs due to the miscalculations and mismanagement of others?”
that doesn’t, quite, sit right..
to be clear, I don’t think the ‘un-/under-employed’ are ‘losers’..though, if they’re not responsible for themselves, who is? or, if someone violated them, where are the Trials?
good thing, for the Oligarchs, that AG ‘Bag’ Holder is on the job..
Ahab,
That headline is misleading, if not inaccurate. The truth is:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34040009
“…According to the government’s broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5 percent are either without a job entirely or underemployed…” …which is different . The U6 number includes “under employed.
The “loser” guy got a little emotive is my guess, not unlike ‘blog commentors.’ Yet implicit in the claim is that money, income, and wealth is what differentiates the “winners” from the “losers.” That is what I find particularly appalling about Evan Newmark and other WSJ opinion writers (not to mention their sophistry.)
I just finished listening to the 1994 tape version of The Creature from Jekyll Island. Its amazing how prophetic it is . It explains everything going on today in the financial system to a T. I encourage everyone to listen to this or buy the book . Its basically the bible for the plutocracy, you know, its god’s work outline.
When you have an hour to sit in a quiet place put it on and listen will full attention. I wish I had remembered it last summer . I would have seen that I forgot the blueprint but they didnt, all a part of their cyclical plan.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6507136891691870450#docid=-8484911570371055528
Pass It on.
its more obvious than ever that GS would’ve circled the toilet bowl if the taxpayers didn’t backstop the AIG meltdown. for this boob to come out and verbally eviscerate the innocents further shows the arrogance and utter disdain these wall street insiders have of those who not only have nothing to do with this debacle but saved them from utter ruin.
From my own anecdotal observation, yes, this is what being laid off and struggling entails us to be in the USA at this time.
We might as well forget the bygone days of sympathy and sharing. Those are 4 letter words now. Our culture is about winning, wearing the bling, and being a celebrity. This downturn hasn’t hurt a lot of us enough, yet. Trouble I have is that the bottom 10% are the first to feel the pain, and the last to feel the recovery. I visited a town in rural Alabama last year, did an investment seminar for my employer at the time. I have never felt so useless as I did then. Here I was, talking to groups of 30-40, who were mill workers with no prospects ahead of them, in a town where there is one employer, who has just asked them to take a 7% paycut, and pleading to enroll in a 401k plan.
Man, I just know what I’m doing in this career path right now. Anyone know of a legitimate, online masters degree program, preferably in econ or finance, so I can leave industry and teach at a junior college?
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