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The Goldman Sachs earnings report is out and everyone who is anyone has something to say about it. Mark Thoma offers a collection of comments, and our own Bob Reich has a post, wherein he concludes:

So the fact that Goldman has reverted to its old ways in the market suggests it has every reason to believe it can revert to its old ways in politics, should its market strategies backfire once again -- leaving the rest of us once again to pick up the pieces.I think that's a pretty weird conclusion to a post that doesn't even mention financial regulatory reform. Of course Goldman has reverted to its old ways -- nothing has been done (yet) to dissuade them from operating differently. That's, happily enough, why this earnings report is so useful. It gives progressives another big news story to argue for regulatory reform and shift the debate in our direction. CEO Lloyd Blankfein (that's him up there on the right) is practically begging for serious regulation. (The administration's proposal to restrain the banks isn't amazing, especially on the earnings issue, but the good news is that it would place restrictions on Goldman beyond even normal large banks and we will see better compensation rules come out of the House and perhaps the Senate). The new regulations also include some smart wind-down provisions that would prevent taxpayers from having to "pick up the pieces" in the case of a Goldman failure and instead see a government-managed bankruptcy.The other reason that this earnings report is good is more prosaic: It's a sign that the financial markets are continuing to unstick, and it will increase confidence on Wall Street. More confidence = more lending = more recovery.
-- Tim Fernholz