more than a decade. the economy has added jobs. that s the most important thing, for 17 straight months. more than two million jobs in the last year alone. so there are real signs the economy is improving, but gas prices have been soaring. the cost of living rising. the most in more than ten months. some americans may be feeling left out of this economy. diane swonk, diane, as gas prices have increased, the president s approval rating has decreased. i m not one to make direct correlations, but there s been really nothing else that might have caused this. there s a clear breakdown based on where americans fall in the economy. your thoughts let me show you a poll first. a cbs/new york times poll shows among those making more than $100,000 a year, the president s approval rating has replamained relatively flat. meanwhile the approval rating for those making 30 to 50,000 a year dropped by 16 points. diane, is this a clear illustration that we ve got two americas on two very dif
great vampire squid, we re not talking about a horror movie, something much scarier, goldman sachs, as famously put, it s a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. wow, what a vision. here with a closer, perhaps more subtle look at goldman sachs is bill cohen, author of the new book money and power: how goldman sachs came to rule the world. look, you were on wall street for 17 years in the m & a business, you know these banks inside and out. having studied goldman to this depth, what is the single most important revelation about them? the thing they like me talking about the least is the fact that in starting december of 2006, they made a huge
julia is the u.s. managing editor for the financial times. matt, before this firm was ever charnl charged, you wrote a remarkable piece on goldman sachs. these are your words. the most powerful investment bank is is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. what do you think of the settlement, matt? it s too small. it s the largest settlement in sec history, which is something, but let s be real. this is a tiny fraction, even, of what goldman posted for profits in the first quarter this year. so it s you know, it fits in with the general pattern of wall street companies being fined amounts significantly less than they made from the illegal activity, and they re also always allowed to get off without any admission of criminal wrongdoing and nobody
goldman sachs is known as the most feared and once the most respected firm on wall street. but what does the firm do, and how do they do it? here s christine romans. reporter: 85 broad street, home to the revered and feared, goldman sachs. tell us what you want! reporter: after more than a century of avoiding the media spotlight, the bank finds itself front and center. rolling stone ridiculed it as a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity. critics blame goldman for selling toxic assets like mortgage-backed securities that contributed to the financial collapse. like other banks, it took government bailout money, although it has since paid it back. and while the country is still reeling, goldman sachs is having a banner year. goldman always brings to the table the attitude we re smarter than everybody else and we re better than everybody else and that s why we make money. reporter: former new york governor eliot spitzer investigated goldman s business practic