So after nearly five years, my Casino Capitalism (www.casinocapitalism.com) thesis finally has been vindicated by none other than Lloyd Blankfein. I should really have more patience with my ideas…

As quoted in a recent Bloomberg article:

Blankfein defended the role that Goldman Sachs, and Wall Street as a whole, plays in making markets.

“You could call it a casino, but if it is, it’s a very socially important casino,” he said.

Of course, the definition of “socially important” is rather vague. Gambling on stocks, and other financial instruments is surely fun (at least when you win), which I guess makes it social, but I’m not quite sure it benefits anybody in “social” sense.