1. Paul Volcker is an important character in Goliath, because Volcker's job was to break the New Deal domestically so U.S. bankers could maintain their power abroad. And that's what he did.

2. I ran into Paul Volcker a few years ago at a conference when I was a Democratic Congressional staffer. He harangued me and said 'why are you Democrats so weak?' I wish I had responded, 'because you killed the unions.' Volcker was a good man, but he did very bad things.