Fudging the numbers

That's what the federal government is doing with regard to the settlements it has made with the companies that helped create the Great Depression. Take yesterday's settlement with Goldman Sachs. State and federal officials said that Goldman Sachs would pay $5.1 billion to settle accusations of wrongdoing. However, the payment can be made in different ways.

Goldman is to supposedly spend $240 million on affordable housing. But the bank will have to pay at most only 30 percent of that money to fulfill the deal. That is because it will receive a particularly large credit for each dollar it spends on affordable housing. Goldman will receive $1.50 of credit for each dollar of loan forgiveness within the first six months after the settlement. Goldman supposedly would pay $280 million for community reinvestment and neighborhood stabilization in New York. But an annex to the agreement with New York explains that Goldman will get $2 of credit for every dollar it spends in this area, meaning that it will ultimately have to pay only $140 million. And, then, there is a potential $875 tax benefit.