Goldman and "The People Who Matter" Matthew Lynn of Bloomberg wrote an interesting column the other day in which he said that despite being "well on its way to being the world's most hated company," GS will continue to rake in the billions because "the people who matter" don't care about the scandals. Specifically, those who matter are: 1.  Smart ambitious graduates 2.  Senior executives at big corporations This has an uncomfortable ring of truth. It is no surprise that CVs continue to pour into Goldman.  Where else could a 29 year old -- one unable to play the guitar or throw a 100 mph fastball -- make a $2 million bonus and call himself "The Fabulous Fab" without being laughed out of the room? Lynn also makes the point that big corporations look at GS the same way that ordinary people look at divorce lawyers -- a reputation for being greedy, nasty and mean is actually a plus -- as long as they are on your side. What the public thinks is irrelevant. I draw two conclusions from this: 1.  Investors on the other side of GS deals are not taking a jaundiced enough view of the misalignment of incentives and the conflicts of interest that permeate the big Wall Street banks; 2.  True regulatory reform (not the watered down proposals trickling out of Capitol Hill today) will be necessary to rein in banker abuses.  The "free market" won't do it in this case.