Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World, by William D Cohan (Doubleday)
Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World, by William D Cohan (Doubleday)
Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World, by William D Cohan (Doubleday)
Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World, by William D Cohan (Doubleday)

Money and Power: Naming the names of the global financial crisis

An ex-banker turned respected financial journalist, William D Cohan is well-placed to recount the chequered history of the mighty investment house.

Chloe Nankivell

April 29, 2011

  • English
  • Arabic

Goldman Sachs: talent factory for hardworking capitalist ubermensch or "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity", in Matt Taibbi's phrase? William D Cohan inclines towards the latter opinion, though he puts it less flamboyantly.
An ex-banker turned respected financial journalist, Cohan is well placed to recount the chequered history of the mighty investment house. His enthusiasm is notable, matched only by his ability to describe complex deals without using stultifying jargon.
Money and Power is in fact a good read. Cohan focuses on the characters who have made Goldman Sachs what it is today; from the early scions of the Goldman and Sachs families, to Sidney Weinberg, the charismatic CEO who propelled the firm into the political spotlight in the 1940s and 1950s.
Cohan's view is that the greed and double-dealing of the 1990s and early 2000s laid low the capitalist system. He uses the Goldman Sachs story to expose the insularity of Wall Street, which allows top bankers, even today, to operate with a lack of comprehension or remorse about the mess we've all ended up in.

While you're here
While you're here
More from this package
Karwaan

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala

Director: Akarsh Khurana

Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar

Rating: 4/5

The BIO:

He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal

He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side

By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam

Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border

He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push

His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level

Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

While you're here
While you're here
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

Book reviewsBankingEconomy