Ex-Johannesburger, Greg Smith, is a Goldman Sachs executive that sent ripples through establishment circles with his whistle-blowing op-ed, published in the New York Times on Wednesday 14 March 2012 about why he resigned from the investment bank at the centre of the 2008 financial crisis. The op-ed titled, "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs" was published on Smith's last day at the firm. It is a damning critique of the unaccountable greed-fueled corporate culture at Goldman Sachs, a...
In the final episode of Al Jazeera's must see documentary, Meltdown, we hear about the sheikh who says the crash never happened; a Wall Street king charged with fraud; a congresswoman who wants to jail the bankers; and the world leaders who want a re-think of capitalism. The financial crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing over 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the brink of insolvency. Sheikh Mohammed...
The third episode of Al Jazeera's must see documentary, Meltdown, looks at how the victims of the 2008 financial crash fight back. A protesting singer in Iceland brings down the government; in France a union leader oversees the kidnapping of his bosses; and thousands of families are made homeless in California. Hordur Torfason, an Icelandic singer, leads the way in holding protests over the country's economy, calling for the resignation of the government and new elections. Geir...
In the second episode of Al Jazeera’s must see documentary, Meltdown, we look at how the financial tsunami swept the world. We hear about a renegade executive who nearly destroyed the global financial system and the US treasury secretary who bailed out his friends. Henry 'Hank' Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and later an economic advisor to the US government; refused to bail out global financial services firm - the Lehman Brothers. Paulson said it was not the role of...
In the first episode of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne. The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929....