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Forum Post: WHY GOLDMAN SACHS owes 250 million hungry people an APOLOGY ----------- This company is much worse than we think.

Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 24, 2011, 5:25 p.m. EST by therising (6643)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

WHY GOLDMAN SACHS OWES 250 MILLION HUNGRY PEOPLE AN APOLOGY:

Goldman has paid out an incredible amount of money in fines for all sorts of bad behavior. The problem is they never learn from it. The more you dig into this company, the worse it gets.

For example, if you look at the food crisis around the world, you realize this is no accident. There is a GREAT ARTICLE IN FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE from this past spring tracing what happened here. 250 million more people became hungry in a single year and much of this can be traced back to Goldman Sachs.

TRACING WHAT HAPPENED HERE.

Article in Foreign Policy Magazine appeared April 27, 2011. It was written by Frederick Kaufman) Here are some snippets:

In 1991, Goldman started dealing in raw materials derivatives. This was the beginning of the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI). It was all downhill from there. Long story short, the world got hungrier and Goldman Sachs got richer. This was the brainchild of their president at the time, Gary Cohn.

Things went bad in 1999 when the Commodities Futures Trading Commission deregulated futures markets, getting rid of common sense regulations that would protect the world from a crisis. All of a sudden, bankers could bet on food (something that since the great depression only people involved in the production of food could do). So Goldman turned food into a casino.

This is the speculation that has been so harmful across the board in our economy. Professional traders made a killing on food. "I make a living off the dumb money," commodity trader Emil van Essen told Businessweek last year. Commodity traders employed by the banks that had created the commodity index funds in the first place rode the tides of profit.

Prices spiked because of this unregulated speculation. This was a rigged market. And when food costs go up, people go hungry. The results: 250 MILLION PEOPLE JOINED THE RANKS OF THE HUNGRY in 2008 bringing the total of the world's "food insecure" to a peak of 1 billion -- a number never seen before. Let me repeat: 250 MILLION PEOPLE WERE ADDED TO THE LIST OF THE HUNGRY IN 2008, in large part to the speculation of Goldman Sachs. This bully needs to be checked.

Please check out this CALL TO ACTION against Goldman Sachs and participate http://www.occupywallst.org/forum/call-to-action-111111-goldman-sachs-has-engaged-in/

20 Comments

20 Comments


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[-] 2 points by Nevada1 (5843) 12 years ago

Hi Therising, Thanks for the great post. Best Regards, Nevada

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

Much appreciated. Please spread the word and continue the conversation here so many more people learn just how bad this firm is and how much damage they've done. Do you have any more info on Goldman?

[-] 1 points by Nevada1 (5843) 12 years ago

Hi Therising, Goldman Sachs exploits student debt for profit. see www.care2.com/how-goldman-sachs-exploits-student-debt-for-profit

[-] 2 points by Nevada1 (5843) 12 years ago

And to make matters worse, the Goldman Sachs CEO got $53,000,000 last year. Trading in food futures is a "crime against humanity".

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

Do you have any more info on things Goldman has done?

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

It's time to expose Goldman's crimes. And not just expose them. I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of people protesting outside Goldman Sachs offices around the world and the media shining a bright light on all things Goldman has done.

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

What Goldman did here is beyond criminal and we need the proper authorities to hold Goldman accountable.

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

I want Goldman to feed the world for a few years to pay the price for what they did here.

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

It's interesting to note how many of Goldman's top brass went to Ivy League business schools. Makes you wonder what they're teaching in those business schools doesn't it?

[-] 1 points by Mets (53) 12 years ago

Watch Inside Job if you haven't already, it explores the relationship between business "scholars", big banks, and the government.

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

That is an unbelievably great documentary. That section about academics being corrupted is astounding. Totally agree. Everyone should see this.

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

If we took back Goldman's ill gotten gains, we could probably feed the world's 1 billion hungry for a decade. Imagine. Imagine. I'm not kidding.

And don't forget that Goldman is responsible for 250 million of those hungry.

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

How do we get Goldman to pay compensation to the victims?

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

We can't let this continue. This goliath must be stopped or at least we need to put up some guardrails.

[-] 1 points by therising (6643) 12 years ago

This is absolutely criminal what Goldman has done here. If you want to do something about it, please visit http://www.occupywallst.org/forum/call-to-action-111111-goldman-sachs-has-engaged-in/