Taibbi's latest

I don't think the world much notices Matt Taibbi. But every time something of his is published, it does hold the promise of rewarding me with Megan McCardle picking it apart word by word.

The only thing disappointing about this new one is that he left out the OJ murder, the Lindbergh baby, Roswell, New Mexico and Lloyd Blankenfein's involvement in the Kennedy assassination.

If you really want a decent read about Goldman Sachs -- and one that saves the rabid populism and just paints a detailed picture from within (it is filled with a ton of research and hundreds of interviews) -- pick up William Cohan's "Money and Power," which I read last month. It's one of the better financial books I have read recently. No, his name is not Michael Lewis (there are good financial writers out there who aren't rock stars), and no, he doesn't turn catchy phrases like "vampire squid." But Cohan approaches Goldman with exhaustive research, and he did something pretty incredible. Goldman is very secretive, and Cohan actually got a little glimpse behind the curtain.

The book isn't very flattering toward Goldman. But it also doesn't make Goldman Sachs a single super villain responsible for everything bad that has ever happened.

Goldman operates in a world of special interest politics and favor-trading. That world is populated by a lot of other entities -- even though Goldman is as good as anyone at operating in that world and profiting. Goldman has been operating in that world for more than 100 years. It's an entrenched system populated by a lot of others, which is the first place Taibbi has gone wrong. And it's not some game Goldman woke up and created in 2008, which is the second place Taibbi has gone wrong. Goldman is (and was) hardly the only entity playing the game. At any time.

It's a system that has been put in place by all of us -- by allowing the people we elect to trade favors for their power and allow special interests to run our country.

If the whole thing is indictable, there are thousands of other private (companies) and public (politicians, appointees) entities that need to be fitted for pinstripes.

Goldman is very good at weathering just about anything, because it knows how to play a what has become a higher and higher stakes game. It plays it very well. Cohan managed paint a picture of how Goldman does it, which is difficult, because penetrating Goldman in some ways is like penetrating the CIA (said somewhat literally). In the context of the facts, yeah, you finish the book saying, "That's fucked up," but you also realize that Goldman has incredible survival instincts.

Goldman Sachs is what everyone thinks it is. It's not Taibbi's Lex Luther. It is politically well connected and it will do anything it has to (and can) to exploit those connections to turn a profit. It puts zero thought into how it affects anyone other than Goldman Sachs.

Is that indictable? How many prisons are we prepared to build?