Money Lenders Preach Their Gospel (BCS, GS, LAZ)

Money Lenders Preach Their Gospel

Religion, politics, and money are mixing it up in the churches of England. With U.K. unemployment at a 14-year high and citizens angry over a government bailout of lenders, bankers in the country are taking their message to the pews. They're defending the system, of course.

Executives from Barclays (NYSE: BCS ) , Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , and Lazard International (NYSE: LAZ ) are among those talking about Satan, Jesus, and "one-night financial stands."

Reports Bloomberg.com:

"The injunction of Jesus to love others as ourselves is an endorsement of self-interest," Goldman's [International advisor Brian] Griffiths said Oct. 20, his voice echoing around the gold-mosaic walls of St. Paul's Cathedral, whose 365-feet-high dome towers over the City, London's financial district. "We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieving greater prosperity and opportunity for all."

Check out the full Bloomberg article -- it's worth it -- and share your thoughts with the Fool community in the comments box below. Do these bankers have a point, or is this another sign that they're out of touch?

Best Odds in the Universe!
If you're interested in a 98.79% chance at beating the market... and a 70.84% chance at DOUBLING the market's return – Motley Fool Supernova could be just what you're looking for. And get this: We arrived at these odds from 10,000 random back-tested portfolios composed of Motley Fool Co-founder David Gardner's personal stock picks.

It's why David recently handpicked a small team of world-class portfolio managers. You see, he thinks these odds can get even better! And he'd like to prove it to you...

Simply enter your email address. And the answer to the question everybody is asking will be delivered to your inbox!

Kris Eddy does not own shares in any companies mentioned in this article. The Fool's disclosure policy often asks itself: What would Kermit do?

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On November 05, 2009, at 6:36 PM, xetn wrote:

Just two points: Jesus threw the money lenders out of the temple.
GS is maybe the greatest thief in history; not only did they receive bailout money from TARP but also an additional 15 billion from the AIG bailout.
Perhaps it is no surprise that the US treasury is loaded with former GS alums and was Obama's largest contributor.
"The ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee called it "deeply disturbing" that Stephen Friedman, who is chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., bought Goldman shares in December and January."
Then:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-feat...
Report this Comment On November 06, 2009, at 1:00 AM, xetn wrote:

More on GS:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/taibbi/taibbi16.1.html
Report this Comment On November 06, 2009, at 11:40 AM, ithanley wrote:

Read the book, "The Family", to know where these bankers are coming from. They are a part of a long time, loosely knit, philosophical group. The statements you have quoted define a part of their viewpoint.