The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere. The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled-dry American empire, reads like a...

“We hate you guys…” – this is what Mr. Luo Ping, director general at China’s Banking Regulatory Commission, speaking in New York on Wednesday, said about USA bailout plans. It is clear thatt once USA government will start printing those crispy greenbacks, and the printing machine can print unlimited supply of those dollars, things will go really bad for every country who relied on dollars as a way to keep their...

The context of bailout Consider the spree of actions that have the potential—directly and indirectly—to cost taxpayers money: the government accepting $30 billion of Bear Stearns drecky collateral for a $29 billion loan to JPMorgan; giving investment banks access to the Fed’s discount window; assuming responsibility for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, guaranteeing money-market funds (up to $50 billion); making a big loan to AIG (up to...