6 reasons 'Goldman Conspiracy' must kill reforms

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6 reasons 'Goldman Conspiracy' must kill reforms
Derivatives-bonus culture needs neo-Reaganomics resurgence to survive

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch


ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Remember Nietzsche? "God is dead." Let's translate that 19th century Germanic philosophy into modern economics. In Adam Smith's 1776 capitalism, God was the Invisible Hand, a mysterious force running the economy from the shadows.

Flash forward to 2010: Capitalism is dead. The economy has a new Invisible Hand, the Goldman Conspiracy of Wall Street bankers.

This transfer of power happened suddenly. As recently as late 2008 the Invisible Hand was on life support, near death. Suddenly, miraculously the Treasury secretary, Goldman's former CEO, transferred the power into a new Invisible Hand of God, the free-market ideology of Reaganomics ... a power absolutely essential to the survival of Wall Street's mega-bonus culture.

Yes, that's why the Goldman Conspiracy must kill financial reforms ... why they will kill effective reform with the backroom support of Obama and Dodd. This was predicted back in late 2008, even before the bailouts, back when we thought Reaganomics dead. "Shock Doctrine" author Naomi Klein warned:

"Free market ideology has always been a servant to the interests of capital ... During boom times it's profitable to preach laissez faire, because an absentee government allows speculative bubbles ... When those bubbles burst, the ideology becomes a hindrance and goes dormant while big government rides to the rescue," then a neo-Reaganomics "ideology will come roaring back when the bailouts are done. The massive debts the public is accumulating to bail out the speculators will then become part of a global budget crisis," setting up a new bubble, bigger meltdown, and the Great Depression 2 the world narrowly avoided in 2008.

America's now at a historic turning point. If the Goldman Conspiracy succeeds in killing reform, another collapse is guaranteed, soon. Listen to Time magazine's Stephen Gandel:

"Of all the causes of the financial crisis, one of the biggest was a power shift on Wall Street that left the traders in charge and the bankers who had traditionally run everything from Broad Street to Maiden Lane sidelined. Years ago, the investment world and its professionals believed in long-term relationships. That meant nurturing the economy and the companies and people in it." Yes, that was the culture when I was with Morgan Stanley back in the '70s. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-conspiracy-must-kill-bank-reform-2010-05-04