Cost-Benefit Analysis on Wall Street

Goldman Sachs Settles with the SEC

Here's an ethical (and business) dilemma:

Would you steal $200,000 if you knew that, if you were caught, the only penalty you faced would be a $5,500 fine?

Do the following moral/financial calculation(s) with me.

Keep 97% of what you stole.

Face no jail time, don't admit guilt, and continue doing business as usual.

Hmm . . . tough choice -- especially for someone on Wall Street.

Business as Usual -- Still

Add five (!) zeroes . . . and the above is a fair summary of what just transpired in Goldman Sachs' $550 million settlement with the SEC (for the math-challenged, $20 billion is just what Goldman Sachs made last year -- more than enough to cover the SEC's $550 million fine).

And people are now hailing the SEC as "newly aggressive," "a re-energized watchdog," etc.???

Yeah, right.

P.S.: Guess whether Goldman Sachs' stock went up or down after the foregoing was announced.