Morning Reading

Good morning. A few items to start the day; a couple of them are funny. Others, not so much:

Taxpayers help Goldman reach the height of profit (Bloomberg):

“It’s just an unbelievably bad deal,” Black says. “We could hire any middle-tier guy or gal at Goldman, and they would tell us within 15 seconds that the deal we have made as a nation with Goldman is underpriced by many, many orders of magnitude and that we are insane.”

Taxpayers are getting screwed on the Citi payback (The Nation)

The banks are raking in the fees for repaying the government (New York Times)

I’m sensing a theme. Maybe we should switch gears:

Jobless MBAs turn to support groups (Businessweek)

Fall internship pays off with a a coveted winter internship (The Onion)

Companies giving in order to receive (NPR):

This time of year, charity is everywhere: Starbucks is helping to fight AIDS in Africa. Macy’s is giving to the Make A Wish Foundation. And Toys “R” Us is giving to Toys For Tots. Clearly, ‘tis the season for giving — but it’s also clear that there is many a reason for giving.

“Companies engaged in social issues have gained tremendous benefits,” says Carol Cone, the chairwoman and founder of Cone Inc. who is considered by many to be the mother of cause marketing. “It’s absolutely magic.”

Fabricated Treasury memo almost too real (Clusterstock/Bruce Krasting)

• Dec 22, 2009 5:57 AM — Scott Jagow
• 1 comments