Far Below the Mendoza Line

In the game of baseball, a hitter who can't manage to get one hit per every five at bats is said to be below the Mendoza Line. Back when I was a schoolboy, anything below 60% was an F. In order to receive a passing grade on the State of Washington written driver's test, you can get no more than 25% of the answers wrong.

While the percentage of what represents a good score or grade varies in relation to the topic, I think most people would agree that a failure rate of 98% is not good...unless you happen to be Goldman Sachs!

A bitter rift has opened up between the world's most powerful bank and one of its most fearsome dictators after Goldman Sachs invested $1.3bn (£790m) of Colonel Gaddafi's money – and lost virtually all of it.

According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, Goldman offered to make Gaddafi one of its biggest investors as compensation for losing 98% of the money the Wall Street firm invested on behalf of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA). This left the $53bn Gaddifi-controlled sovereign wealth fund, which elsewhere has stakes in companies such as Financial Times-owner Pearson and BP, with just $25.1m of the money it entrusted to Goldman...

Now you might think this is no big deal because it involves the "hated" Libyan dictator, but as Matt Taibbi details in Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America, Goldman Sachs has been every adept at losing their investor's money and yet realizing billions of dollars in annual profits.

Why can't the rest of us get this kind of deal? Imagine screwing up 98% of the time in your present job and each year receiving a promotion and an increase in salary!