Greg Smith (1)

I was assigned to read this for Business Law & Ethics.

Not bad though there is A LOT of filler, and, surprisingly, his NY Times op-ed is not included. But I liked how simple financial terms and Goldman Sachs practices were described.

As readable as it gets with financial jargon (even has a glossary!). This is a must read for anyone who wants to know why we are in the mess we are in, about the lack of morality at the top that has filtered down so that it is all about the numbers and the price we all pay for allowing this to happen.

An interesting, at times, look inside Wall Streets biggest player. Perhaps because I am long past the time where I believed in corporate values that the revelations in the book did not shock me. Post 2008 no one should be surprised to learn that Wall St is more interested in profits than ethics and doing the best for their clients. Oddly, enough not one word is mentioned about the occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. Even though the message from the movement was muddled it did have some idea show more that something was not working for many Americans. show less

Greg is honest on his view, but I think it is too early to think that banks would eliminate hypocrisy in their business models.