Gillian Tett writing at Prospect magazine, October 5:
From Rishi Sunak to Mark Carney, how one bank's famous alumni reveal a lot about modern power
What does Rishi Sunak (UK chancellor) have in common with Huw Pill (new chief economist at the Bank of England), Mario Draghi (ex-European Central Bank chief, now Italian PM), Mark Carney (ex-Bank of England governor) and Robert Rubin (ex-US Treasury secretary)? One answer is that these men have, or had, power in the global financial system. Another is that they are alumni of an old Wall Street institution: Goldman Sachs.
A coincidence? No. Goldman alumni have long disproportionately filled government roles, to the point where a few politicians make a point of having shunned the institution. Ahead of this autumn’s Budget, Sunak’s ministerial shadow, Rachel Reeves, pointedly told the BBC she once rejected a Goldman job for a “public service” Bank of England role. Each year the institution sucks in bright students—and later propels many into influential roles elsewhere. If the policymaking world worships the capitalist creed, Goldman Sachs is a seminary.
Is this a bad thing? Back in the financial crisis, the bank was described as a “vampire squid” by writer Matt Taibbi, since its far-reaching tentacles were so adept at sucking profits out of markets. But it would be a mistake to view the presence of Goldman alumni in government as a dastardly plot. This is no Dan Brown novel. Nor is conventional economic analysis much use in understanding the pre-eminence of the “Goldman family.” Instead, it is best to borrow the tools of social anthropology, and look at how half-stated cultural patterns reinforce its elite position. The symbols, rituals and social bonds of this professional tribe—like those of any tribe—matter.
The anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu is useful here. He noted that as well as controlling economic capital (that is, wealth), elites cement power using cultural and moral capital (the symbols of power), or social and political capital (useful networks). Goldmanites are like most investment bankers in being skilled at amassing the first type of capital, albeit to a startling degree....
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