The New York Times has a serious ethical issue. Because Steve Rattner is a childhood friend of Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the newspaper’s publisher and scion of the founding family, he is allowed to write articles on the op ed pages like this one today.
In an otherwise completely pedestrian piece, Rattner is allowed to score points that will benefit him personally. Here are three:
–The most egregious is that he singles out Goldman Sachs and called it “an exceptional firm.” The truth is, Goldman Sachs is one of the least ethical corporate entities in the world. It functions on raw greed and arrogance. Yet here is Rattner calling it an “exceptional firm.” The next time Rattner bumps into Lloyd Blankfein in the Hamptons, they will have a warm and fuzzy chat.
–Rattner is very complementary toward the U.S. Department of Labor for seeking to enforce new rules requiring brokers to recommend investments that are in the best interests of retirees. This is very rich. Rattner’s investment banking firm was implicated in the “pay to play” scheme in Albany, in which management firms paid bribes to get pieces of New York State’s pension money to manage. Rattner had to fold his company. Now he is lecturing to us on best practices?
–Rattner essentially uses this piece to hang out his shingle as a professional investment manager. “I’m appalled at what I see happening to many friends,” he writes. Implication: only Steve Rattner is smart enough to save the planet from greedy financial advisers.
The New York Times spends a great deal of time and energy on enforcing its ethics when it comes to its own reporters and editors. But by allowing Rattner to have this platform, the Times calls its own ethics into question.
