I’ve always been grateful that Rudy Giuliani was NYC mayor during the 9/11 attack. He was reassuring during a moment of crisis, when leadership was otherwise missing. He stepped into the void after the attack, while others seemed to disappear. Giuliani’s political career — which was in tatters at that time — was rescued by his leadership.
But I’m watching Rudy speak on CNBC about bank bailouts and bank regulation — and I am comforted by the simple fact that he is not in charge. As critical as I have been about the Obama administration’s economic approach, it has been about the policy response, not the understanding of the crisis.
The mayor, on the other hand, is frighteningly clueless in a Phil Gramm kinda way — he clearly does not understand how the crisis occurred, what caused the collapse, and how to fix it. Instead spouts the same discredited meme — that too much regulation was the problem. He is old school, well coached in free market aphorisms and now discredited market worship.
Its a shame that none of the anchors queried him as to what current regulations he would get rid of. (Nothing like letting a hanging curveball pass you by for a called strike).
Video at CNBC.com
What's been said:
Discussions found on the web: