What Goldman Sachs and Nas Have in Common

Over on The Daily Beast (perhaps the best name of anything, ever), William D. Cohan dismisses the conspiracy theories alleging that all the Goldman Sachs alums (Josh Bolten, Hank Paulson, Robert Zoellick, etc.) in Washington are pulling strings to keep their old operation above water while the rest of Wall Street tanks. The specific theories are a little far-fetched, as Dennis Kucinich's devotion to them demonstrates. However, that doesn't mean that it's a good idea to have so many policy-makers coming from one firm. Potential conflicts of interest to one side, the mere fact that so many people were formed by the same firm and were influenced by the same ethos inevitably leads to, at a minimum, a narrow perspective guiding policy.