We just got the latest issue of Newsweek, and I had to laugh as I read this. Joanna's been at it now for a year and a half, thanks to our friend David Yu.
According to its CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs is doing "God's work." This quote, care of the LondonTimes(though delivered in irony, according to Goldman Sachs) was met with bewilderment at a Chinese business conference in Lisbon last week, where foreign CEOs and government officials were dumbstruck by the hubris. Many of the attendees blame Wall Street bankers like Goldman for the global financial meltdown and think the U.S. is doing a bad job of cleaning up the mess. "Do you think those quotes were made up?" asked one incredulous Latin American participant.
But America's diminished position in the world was even better illustrated by how quickly the Blankfein banter faded and talk turned to China's growing clout. Goldman Sachs itself is now predicting that Chinese GDP will overtake that of America by 2027. This year, China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest generator of investment capital, around $2 trillion compared to America's $1.4 trillion, according to economist John Ross. Much Chinese cash is pouring in to Africa and Latin America. Amadou Hott, CEO of Nigeria's UBA Capital, said his country's future was "now more tied to the East than the West." China's growth is the reason that Latin America and Africa, for the first time in modern history, haven't been the worst hit by a global downturn. During one session in Lisbon, a Chinese entrepreneur was asked to offer advice to Barack Obama on the eve of his visit to Beijing. The answer: Get your daughters a Mandarin tutor.
According to its CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs is doing "God's work." This quote, care of the LondonTimes(though delivered in irony, according to Goldman Sachs) was met with bewilderment at a Chinese business conference in Lisbon last week, where foreign CEOs and government officials were dumbstruck by the hubris. Many of the attendees blame Wall Street bankers like Goldman for the global financial meltdown and think the U.S. is doing a bad job of cleaning up the mess. "Do you think those quotes were made up?" asked one incredulous Latin American participant.
But America's diminished position in the world was even better illustrated by how quickly the Blankfein banter faded and talk turned to China's growing clout. Goldman Sachs itself is now predicting that Chinese GDP will overtake that of America by 2027. This year, China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest generator of investment capital, around $2 trillion compared to America's $1.4 trillion, according to economist John Ross. Much Chinese cash is pouring in to Africa and Latin America. Amadou Hott, CEO of Nigeria's UBA Capital, said his country's future was "now more tied to the East than the West." China's growth is the reason that Latin America and Africa, for the first time in modern history, haven't been the worst hit by a global downturn. During one session in Lisbon, a Chinese entrepreneur was asked to offer advice to Barack Obama on the eve of his visit to Beijing. The answer: Get your daughters a Mandarin tutor.
1 comment:
Early Communist Chinese believed that capitalism has its root in Christianity, citing Matthew 25:14-28 (The Parable of the Talents) as the source. They coined the name 马太效应 with a bad connotation, mainly due to verse 28 which is against communism: "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
Ever since Teng Xiao Peng made the "black cat white cat" remark, Communist Chinese speak less of 马太效应 but more of cat and mouse. To be more accurate. Wall street bankers are no longer the Matthew of the Bible but are only cats in the streets going after rats race.
It is not too difficult to agree that it is God's divine creation that cats should chase after rats. But going beyond to say that the cats are doing God's work is far too difficult to accept. Filling up the stomoach is more human nature than God's work.
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