Goldman Sachs' most precious asset – its awesome reputation – is turning as toxic as a pile of rotting collateralised debt obligations. Since the summer it has been accused of being a blood-sucking vampire squid, of grabbing swine flu vaccines, of cruelty to kittens and of taking the Lord's name in vain. (Chief executive Lloyd Blankfein's joke that Goldman was “doing God's work” slipped below his critics' irony radar.) Now, having made $8.4bn in the first nine months of this year and set aside a jaw-dropping $16.7bn in compensation, Goldman stands charged with tossing a few hundred million at US small businesses in a cynical – and unsuccessful – attempt to rebuild its public standing.
高盛(Goldman Sachs)最寶貴的資產——其令人敬畏的聲譽——正變得像一堆正在貶值的債務抵押債券一樣「有毒」。自今年夏季以來，它先後被指責爲一個「吸血烏賊」、搶先獲得豬流感疫苗、殘忍對待總部大樓裏發現的小貓、乃至濫用上帝的名義。（公司執行長勞埃德•布蘭克費恩(Lloyd Blankfein)開玩笑說，高盛「在做上帝的工作」，但批評者看不出其中的諷刺意味。）現在，高盛在今年前9個月賺得84億美元利潤、並撥出令人瞠目結舌的167億美元薪酬之後，又被指責爲試圖向美國小企業提供數億美元資金，以這種惡劣而且不成功的手法企圖重建自己的公共形象。