Kass: Ben Stein, Back Off Goldman Sachs

Over the years, I have done a lot of business with and have been in partnerships with several present and former partners and employees at Goldman Sachs. I worked directly with Omega's Leon Cooperman (who ran Goldman's institutional department), the hardest-working man in the investment business, and, as such, I have witnessed the formative impact of one of Goldman Sachs' most famous alumni on his future business ethics and work élan.

To put it directly, Goldman Sachs people are universally smart, hard-working and ethical. Quite frankly, I cannot make such a broad statement about any other investment firm.

I also have read almost every book on Goldman Sachs in order to become a better investor. Back in early 2006, I highlighted John Whitehead's A Life in Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero, in which I commented on the remarkable integrity and sound business practices of Goldman Sachs.

As I mentioned previously, I try to stay away from ad hominem attacks, so I will try to be more politic than usual in my evaluation of Stein's attacks on Goldman Sachs last Sunday.

Stated simply, his criticism of Hatzius was materially misguided and unsupported by fact, and his questions regarding possible legal improprieties into Goldman Sachs' business dealings and/or its business ethics are similarly unwarranted. And Stein's analysis of the economy is equally nonsensical.

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