If there's a financial scandal brewing anywhere in the world, you can bet that people will eventually invoke Goldman Sachs as a prime player in some regard.

And so it goes with the European debt crisis. Pundits have had a field day, noting that the new president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, and Italy's new prime minister, Mario Monti, were both employees of the bank. This post went with a picture of a vampire squid in action. To some, this is all mere fun. But is there a more serious point here?

The Independent recently wrote that, "This is The Goldman Sachs Project. Put simply, it is to hug governments close. Every business wants to advance its interests with the regulators that can stymie them and the politicians who can give them a tax break, but this is no mere lobbying effort. Goldman is there to provide advice for governments and to provide financing, to send its people into public service and to dangle lucrative jobs in front of people coming out of government. The Project is to create such a deep exchange of people and ideas and money that it is impossible to tell the difference between the public interest and the Goldman Sachs interest."

It is indeed possible that Goldman Sachs' interests are advanced by having so many alums in powerful positions. Some might consider this smart business. Others might think that former Goldman Sachs executives are fully capable of shifting their allegiances as their current position dictates. They dismiss the idea that a former Goldman Sachs banker will continue to serve the bank not matter what job he or she eventually takes. So what do you think?

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