The folks at Goldman Sachs (GS Goldman Sachs news) make a lot more money than most people. Their perks are nicer. Their prestige is much greater. So does it all come down to jealousy?

John Corzine, the former CEO and one-time governor of New Jersey (New Jersey news), has raised the issue in an interview with Bloomberg TV. It's an interesting idea, and I think it probably has some merit. There was, no doubt, a good deal of schadenfreude as Goldman Sachs' PR crisis unfolded. The giggles over the "God's work" episode were loud. People still refer to the famous "vampire squid" reference.

But in the end, being envied isn't such a bad thing, as long as you behave in a way that doesn't turn that envy into fury. Look at AIG (AIG news) as an example of the difference between the two. The issue here is how well CEO Lloyd Blankfein is doing in managing the envy, which is in many ways a PR exercise. Obviously, there have been some blunders. But there may be some opportunism at work here. Envy can make for populist appeal in some cases. So maybe Corzine is on to something.  

For more:
- here's the Bloomberg article

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