Who Advised Obama To Use Rubin As Economic Adviser? Rubinomics Is Terrible
"Its former CEO, Charles Prince III had jumped ship with the usual golden resignation package and this incompetent was replaced by his former adviser and biggest supporter, Robert Rubin. Illogical, but you read that right. This buy in by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority occurred on Rubin's watch.
"Then, in January I included this is a posting, 'As reported by Bloomberg news via Truthout last year, 'AFL-CIO leaders, contending Democrats won the midterm elections because of voter concern about job security and stagnant wages, say it's time to set aside the free-trade policies touted by Rubin.'
" 'We need to review the Rubin agenda that's led to millions of lost jobs and declining standard of living for the middle class," said United Steelworkers President Leo Girard. 'It's an agenda that has been very good for Citigroup and the financial community because they've been abor to finance the relocation of jobs and refinance the trade deficits.'
" Organized labor has long been at odds with "Rubinomics," the phrase coined to describe President Bill Clinton's economic policy, masterminded by Rubin, to promote free trade and reduce the budget deficit...
"Jonathan Tasini seems to agree with me regarding Mr. Rubin...And, indeed, Rubin is still being pointed to by both Democratic presidential candidates as a wise person who should be called on to fix the mess. Am I missing something here? Do you think any regular worker who messed up royally would last a New York minute and his or her job--not to mention being rewarded like a king? The answer is obvious.'
Now, an article in Asia Times weighs in with this: "The political dynamics in 1932 have similarities with that of the upcoming 2008 presidential election in the aftermath of the credit market crisis that broke out in August 2007. The main difference between 1932 and 2008 is that, unlike in 1932, when Democrats could disclaim policy responsibility for the 1929 crash, they cannot deny in 2008 the responsibility of the two-term Bill Clinton administration (1993-2001) for the credit bubble that burst in 2007. Another difference is that the full impact of the final bursting of the serial bubbles will not be fully felt until after the 2008 election. The 1932 election was held in the midst of a severe depression.
"It was Robert Rubin, special economic assistant to Clinton and later Treasury secretary, who worked out what has come to be known as Rubinomics, the strategy of dollar hegemony through the promotion of unregulated globalization of financial markets based on a fiat dollar that also forced deregulation on the US financial market. (See US dollar hegemony has got to go, Asia Times Online, April 11, 2002.)."
"If I were looking to crack wise, I might call this "more of the same." Bob Rubin, after all, was one of the key players in overseeing the deregulation of the financial sector, most notably the revocation of Glass-Steagall. That deregulation may not have caused the current crisis, but it sure as hell didn't help: it contributed to creation of what Krugman calls in his column today the "shadow banking system." So why would Barack Obama call in Bob Rubin? Mostly, I think because Rubin is kind of a brand name in finance, and talking to him is a symbol that you're talking to smart people. Rubin's unquestionably smart, but for a campaign running on change, I don't think he's the first guy I'd go to".
Did Austan Goolsbee and Jason Furman advise Obama to use Bob Rubin as one of the spokespeople about the Wall Street debacle? If so, what the heck were they thinking? Or were they? Sometimes, they seem deliberately dense. For Pete's sake, Bob Rubin is a disastrous choice, with all his anti-working American and deregulation baggage. This is a Republican lite not a Democrat. Quit shooting yourselves and Obama in the foot.
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