Bailout

Goldman?s gym tax

By Felix Salmon

Social Workout has photos from inside Goldman’s spanking-new 54,000-square-foot gym, but leaves the most interesting factoid in the comments. It turns out that being a Goldman employee might be necessary to gain entrance to the gym, but it’s not sufficient: you also need to cough up a monthly membership fee in order to gain access to those standard-issue Russell Athletic t-shirts and gray shorts. If you’re a managing director or higher, the fee is $132 a month; vice-presidents pay $75 a month; and everybody else pays $51 per month.

I’m wondering what the logic is here — is it a Pigovian tax aimed at minimizing the number of healthy employees? Is it an attempt to stop the unfit from complaining about having to cross-subsidize those who work out? Is 54,000 square feet not enough for the whole company, and the charge an attempt to keep numbers down? Or is it some misguided attempt at saving corporate cash, from a company which spent $2 billion on the shiny new building, including $5 million for a Julie Mehretu mural? All very odd.

Full post as published by Macroprudential on August 12, 2010 (boomark / email).