WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT...
What does Rishi Sunak (UK chancellor) have in common with Huw Pill (new chief economist at the Bank of England), Mario Draghi (ex-European Central Bank chief, now Italian PM), Mark Carney (ex-Bank of England governor) and Robert Rubin (ex-US Treasury secretary)? One answer is that these men have, or had, power in the global financial system. Another is that they are alumni of an old Wall Street institution: Goldman Sachs.
A coincidence? No. Goldman alumni have long disproportionately filled government roles, to the point where a few politicians make a point of having shunned the institution. Ahead of this autumn’s Budget, Sunak’s ministerial shadow, Rachel Reeves, pointedly told the BBC she once rejected a Goldman job for a “public service” Bank of England role. Each year the institution sucks in bright students—and later propels many into influential roles elsewhere. If the policymaking world worships the capitalist creed, Goldman Sachs is a seminary.