During the global financial crisis (GFC, 2007–2009), Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, famously said that it was unfair that people were so mad at him and other bankers for crashing the economy because, contrary to common belief, they were doing “God’s work.”1
God’s work? Maybe so. But they were certainly not doing work for the economy, the taxpayers, or the people. Rather, it turns out, we were all working for them.
However preposterous Blankfein’s claim was, he went on to argue something that is contained in almost every Money and Banking textbook and that is constantly repeated by economists, politicians, and bankers: “We’re very important. We [bankers] help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. We have a social purpose.”
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