‘Doomed the moment they were made’
Re the Goldman Sachs fraud charge: Joe Nocera hits one out of the park. … It’ll make you think twice about the alleged heroes in Gregory Zuckerman’s ‘The Greatest Trade Ever’ and Michael Lewis’s ‘The Big Short.’ They were all gamblers in the same casino – gambling with what turned out to be our money.

Speaking of casinos, the SEC basically is accusing Goldman of stacking the deck. Reading Joe’s column and its Michael Lewis reference, I had flashbacks to the time when, soon after college in the mid ‘80s, I played a drinking card game with some friends. I lost big time, though the pattern of my losses wasn’t discernable at the time. Only later did I learn my friends had carefully and lovingly stacked four different card decks, laughing away at the mere thought of each pre-arranged shot I’d have to take. Right about the same time, Lewis was researching his future ‘Liar’s Poker’ classic about Wall Street. I never dreamed I’d one day be making a three-way mental connection between my legendary card game, ‘Liar’s Poker’ and Goldman Sachs. But there it is – and it’s quite apt.  ¶ 8:17 AM