Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein make their first ever appearance in Vanity fair's 2008 ranking of the "New Establishment," it's often crazed ranking of today's movers and shakers. The chiefs of JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, who rank 21 and 20 on the list, obviously made the cut because their firms so successfully navigated the credit crisis, with Dimon building his bank up further through the acquisition of Bear Stearns while so many of his rivals are downsizing operations and selling assets.

Private equity honchos have suffered. Stephen Schwarzman and Peter Peterson, the founders of Blackstone Group ranked in the top five, DealBook points out. This time around they're not on the list at all. Henry R. Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts slipped from 51 to 77.

This kind of listing are always flawed, of course. The rankings can seem arbitrary and the so-called 'establishment' isn't any such thing. An 'establishment' is more properly an exclusionary club that protects its members and their interests against outsiders. Vanity Fair's 'new establishment' often appears to be nothing more than a ranking of who its editors would like to interview. Or perhaps who can get a table at the Waverly Inn.

Most demonstrative of this flaw is the plunge of Stevie Cohen of SAC Capital, who slipped 54 places to No. 99. Does anyone really believe that Cohen is less powerful or influential this year than last? Certainly not the Vanity Fair editors who described SAC Capital as one of the people who brought down Bear Stearns.

That also makes us wonder where all the powerful shorts are? Jim Chanos? David Einhorn? Bill Ackman? None of them made the list.

New Establishment [Vanity Fair]