The NYT had a bizarre piece in which it reported on the FBI's arrest of a former Goldman Sachs employee because he allegedly stole software from Goldman Sachs which the article says a federal prosecutor claims: "could be used to 'unfairly manipulate' stock prices." The article is peculiar because it focuses on the intellectual property issues between Goldman and a former employee who had worked on developing the software. It almost completely ignores the more basic issue that the federal government effectively claims that Goldman Sachs has software that can be used to manipulate stock prices. If the software can be used for illegal purposes, why is it more serious that a relatively low level employee has access to it than Goldman Sachs' top executives?
--Dean Baker