Reply #7: TPM: "Can't get around it." post about Rubin policies

[madfloridian]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/245520.php

"Chuck Prince going down to the corporate investment bank in late 2002 was the start of that process," a former Citigroup executive said of the bank's big C.D.O. push. "Chuck was totally new to the job. He didn't know a C.D.O. from a grocery list, so he looked for someone for advice and support. That person was Rubin. And Rubin had always been an advocate of being more aggressive in the capital markets arena. He would say, 'You have to take more risk if you want to earn more.' "

As you probably know, Rubin has become a key economics advisor to President-elect Obama and is advising the transition, though he seems neither in line for nor interested in a formal appointment. But Rubin's hand does seem present at so many turns in Citigroup's undoing that I see no way of getting around asking what sort of advice he's giving.

Before going any further, I know this post has some of the feel of a gotcha. Some of the best or most successful reformers have been those who knew what needed fixing because they played a big part in creating the mess in the first place. And I've always thought there was something small-minded and immature about trying to strike this or that person from the realm of reasonable debate because they were "wrong" about, say, Iraq, whether the supposed error was in 1991 or 2003. But it's a record that's hard to ignore in present circumstances. And I'm curious whether anyone can point me to any recent (and in this context I'd say the last six months or so) statements or interviews with Rubin that shed light on his current thoughts on what led us to this point."