华尔街是否会关闭赌场？

　　华尔街巨头高盛事实上已经准备利用银行章程实行扩大贷款，是赌场业务处在艰难时期的强烈信号。据华尔街日报报道，高盛正计划大幅增设放贷机构。

　　“高盛集团正在建设一个内部银行，把钱贷给有钱人和企业，预示着金融危机以来华尔街面临着恶劣商业气候的重大转变。

　　以积极的贸易和大企业的交易决策而闻名的纽约证券公司，目前也正在加强其活动，为世界各地的富商成立私人银行。将以更大的新单位贷款给企业，其中一些企业已经与高盛投资交易开始做投资了。高管们设置了 100亿美元贷款目标，起初目标仅为12亿美元……”

　　银行曾经是相对简单的业务，但这些公司使这得这一业务变得无比复杂，增加了金融体系的风险。当然不反对私人银行，但是我持保守观点，因为这关系到我们的银行体系（实际上是我们的支付系统）的正常运行，直接关系到这些收入来自赌博相关的业务流的公司。当然，赌博没有问题（我和别人一样喜爱拉斯维加斯之旅），但是当仅仅因为这些公司可以扩大底线增加股东价值，而威胁到整个支付系统的稳定。那么你就得开始想想，系统是不是没有错误。不能确定高盛此举是否是正确的方向，但希望如此…

　　In a powerful sign of tough times for the casino business, Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs is actually going to use their bank charter to do what banks do - expand loans. According to the Wall Street Journal Goldman is planning to substantially increase their lending arm:

　　“Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is building an in-house bank to lend money to wealthy people and companies, in a significant shift that underlines the harsh business climate facing Wall Street since the financial crisis.

　　The New York securities firm, known for its aggressive trading and big corporate deal-making, is ramping up its activities to become a private bank to serve wealthy customers around the world. The new unit will also lend more directly to corporations, some of whom already make investments and do business with Goldman. Executives have set a goal of $100 billion in loans, up from $12 billion …”

　　There was a time when banking was a relatively simple business, but what these companies have morphed into has made the business infinitely more complex and an increasing risk to the financial system. I’m certainly not against private banking, but I am skeptical of this idea that it’s good for the health of our banking system （really our payments system） to be so directly tied to these companies who now derive so much of their income from gambling related business streams. Of course, I don’t have an issue with gambling （I love a trip to Vegas as much as the next guy）， but when we’re threatening the stability of the entire payments system just so these companies can expand the bottom line and increase shareholder value then you have to start wondering if something isn’t wrong with the system. I won’t say that this move by Goldman is a sign that we’re moving in the right direction, but one can hope…