Blankfein, Henry Paulson and the 2008 financial crisis
People are complacent about risk of financial crisis, says Lloyd Blankfein, former Goldman CEO. Says finance industry should plan as though another 2008-style meltdown is coming.
Concerns mount about the economic disruption from artificial intelligence and the underwriting standards at many non-bank lenders, which have proliferated in the past two decades.
Blankfein is out with a memoir this month. The main drama in Streetwise is the 2008 financial crisis. We were constantly challenging our traders to sell into the market, to see the true value.
Streetwise: Getting To and Through Goldman Sachs.
It charts his unlikely rise from Brooklyn public housing to running one of the world’s most important financial institutions. Forbes pegs his net worth at around $1.7bn.
“I’ve met a few people in my life where they were so smart I couldn’t even figure out how they saw the world,” Blankfein said, naming Elon Musk and Warren Buffett.
“But most of the time, people aren’t that great. They’re just lucky, in the right place at the right time. Worked harder. And maybe even smarter but not smarter of an order of magnitude. Just a little smarter.”
He took over as Goldman’s chief executive in 2006, after Paulson left to become Treasury secretary.
Financial Times 2 March 2026
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson of Goldman Sachs
By Bush administration standards, Henry Paulson, the Treasury secretary, is a good guy. He isn’t conspicuously incompetent; and he isn’t trying to mislead us into war, justify torture or protect corrupt contractors.
Paul Krugman, NYT, December 10, 2007
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