The late economist John Kenneth Galbraith blamed Goldman Sachs policies for causing the Great Depression of '29.
In his book, The Great Crash, 1929, Galbraith, a key figure in JFK's admin, devoted an entire chapter to G/S, entitled “In Goldman, Sachs, We Trust.”
Details the “large-scale corporate thimblerigging” that Goldman and other Wall Streeters practiced in the 1920s.
Goldman says it had no direct credit exposure to AIG
By Greg Morcroft
Last update: 11:37 a.m. EDT March 20, 2009
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Goldman Sachs Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said Friday that the firm would not have lost money from specific derivatives contracts with American International Group had the insurer failed rather than been rescued by the government. “We have stated consistently that Goldman Sachs did not have a significant economic exposure to AIG. AIG’s disclosure of cash flows to counterparties does not in any way contradict that statement,” Viniar said in a conference call with reporters on Friday. “We had commercial contracts with AIG. We entered into these contracts on commercial terms. We were fully hedged with either credit default swaps or collateral, so we were not in a position to take a loss,” Viniar said.