Whom should Americans "thank for the country's extraordinary eight-year economic boom?" Or, put another way, who "helped create the boom by persuading President Clinton to balance the budget?" Who is "steely" and "respected" and "market savvy" and blessed with "sureness of purpose?" And who cut interest rates, slashed joblessness, and generated one of the greatest bull markets ever?
Take a bow, Bob Rubin. Mike Jensen of NBC News credited Rubin with most of these achievements after the treasury secretary announced his resignation last week. And Paul Blustein of the Washington Post added adjectives like steely and the rest. So what's the truth about Rubin? Mostly he was a man who got out of the way -- of the American economy, that is. Naturally, the press was unable to understand such a passive accomplishment. In its view, Washington runs the economy.
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan is one Washingtonian who knows better. When he got an award as policymaker of the year in 1996, he said it should have gone to the economy itself, which was soaring on its own. So give Rubin credit for keeping Washington's and Clinton's hands off the economy, but no more. And by the way, it was Dick Morris, the political adviser, who pressured Clinton to move to a balanced budget, not Rubin.