Goldman Sachs needs to shake off Gekko image

So, Goldman Sachs has a "Gordon Gekko feel to it" according to an executive at Brand Asset Consulting. In a survey of leading US brands, the market research firm has reached the conclusion that the investment bank's stature has been diminished in the eyes of the public by recent events.

Somehow, this fails to do justice to the emotions the name Goldman stirs in the breast of the average American.

Goldman's stature isn't diminished; the firm is becoming actively hated, and this emotion is going mainstream. When Rolling Stone magazine recently published a story describing Goldman as a "vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity", its author, Matt Taibbi, was simply saying what a lot of people think - if more eloquently and memorably.