Goldman Settles

On June 24, the Supreme Court ordered the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to reconsider the conviction of Conrad Black in light of the high court's rulinig in the “honest services” decision in Skilling v. United States .

Predictably, the prosecutors in Black's case are arguing that he should not be free on bail while his appeal is being heard.

So, Goldman Sachs has settled the SEC suit by agreeing to pay half a billion dollars. Which only goes to show, once again, that capital is a coward. That is not meant as a criticism. Indeed, in some ways, cowardice is the virtue of capital. When subjected to oppression, it does not risk calamity by fighting.  It seeks merely to minimize its victimization and to be more cautious in the future--or else to flee victimization entirely.  But precisely because capital is cowardly, we cannot rely on it to fight the battle for capitalism. We need to rely on those (including capital-ISTS) who will not shrink from battle, either because they are dedicated to truth or because their honor will not permit it or because they cannot escape victimization.  UPDATE: Here is the SEC press release. This is the largest fine ever assessed against a financial services firm in the history of the SEC.

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