There's been no shortage of books that purport to dissect the financial crisis and all that ails Wall Street. Get ready for another entry: Chasing Goldman Sachs, by Suzanne McGee of Barron's, the latest journalistic effort to get the real story behind the implosion that's still rocking the economy.

As Bloomberg notes, "Her goal is, rather, to show how Wall Street bankers became preoccupied with their own short-term interests and drifted away from their raison d'etre--to funnel capital from investors to companies that need it." Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) obviously figures in this process, and most people assume it is a villain.

The real destructive force wrecked by the now tarnished bank was that it seduced all its competitors into following its lead. The goal was no longer banking or capital raising, the goal was to make money. All the top banks moved down this path. If you didn't you were dealt with, just look at Phil Purcell at Morgan Stanley.

"This is an exhaustive piece of reporting that draws on interviews with some 200 people whose lives are tied to the Street, from hedge-fund managers and venture capitalists to private-equity dealmakers and corporate executives." 

For more:
- here's the review

Related Articles:
Goldman Sachs CFO David Viniar thinking about stepping down?
Troubled CDOs still plague Goldman Sachs: Hudson under probe
Timberwolf investor sues Goldman Sachs; flood of litigation coming?