Trump adding another Goldman employee to Cabinet... wise choice or cause for concern?
From Dealbreaker:
managing director at the investment bank, Donovan has emerged as the front-runner for a key post in the Treasury Department. From Mike Allen’s Axios newsletter Wednesday:It looks like yet another Government Sachs employee is heading to D.C.: Jim Donovan. A"Looks like Trump is adding to his Goldman cast, bringing the alumni total in the administration to six: Jim Donovan, a partner, is the front-runner to be Donald Trump’s pick for undersecretary of domestic finance"
If all the appointments go through, Donovan would end up working for his old boss, departing Goldman President Gary Cohn. So at least there’s some consistency there.
Still, however one feels about an incoming presidential administration stuffing its ranks with bankers, there’s a question of fairness here. What about JPMorgan? Or Citigroup? Surely these fine institutions have plenty of talented individuals eager to serve in public office.
There's no doubt Trump has a penchant for finding talent. The man built and grew businesses by hiring the right people. But is anyone concerned that 6 Goldman guys are in the Treasury Dept? I feel that these moves put the fox in charge of the hen house. There's a reasonable chance that some of the moves the department makes will benefit the Goldman more than the country itself.
On the other side of the coin, these guys do have experience in managing money and resources for arguably the best IB bank in the world. But there are other firms that also do a great job, like JPMorgan and Citi to name a few.