Rubin (Head of Treasury) just announced his resignation. Think he knows something we don't?

-- br14 (br14@DOWn.com), May 12, 1999

Answers

Here is the AP Bulletin:

BULLETIN

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is stepping down and will be succeeded by his deputy, Lawrence Summers, a senior administration official said today.

Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Don't know if this is effective immediately or not.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), May 12, 1999.

Think Rubin's been trying to resign for a few years. Hell, look at him. He's what, 40? and looks 70. Not as though he won't be around to help, anyway.

OTOH, maybe he doesn't want Y2K to smudge his resume.

-- Lisa (lisa@work.now), May 12, 1999.

The first in a series of rats to leave the sinking ship.

-- GeeGee (GeeGee@madtown.com), May 12, 1999.

I'm sure that he knows a lot of things that we don't. Whether or not they have anything to do with Y2K, who knows? Over the years, many government aides and cabinet members have resigned from their posts to retire or pursue other interests. Did they all resign because of Y2K too?

Do you think that the retirements of John Elway, Wayne Gretzky, and MIchael Jordan were all Y2K related? Might as well throw those in there as well. Yankees' coach and interim manager Don Zimmer will retire when Joe Torre returns. Does he know something we don't? Does Joe Torre really have cancer, or is he just taking time off from baseball to make Y2K preparations? As long as there is no minimally substantive information, we can pretty much go and speculate about everything and everyone.

-- CJS (CJS@CJS.com), May 12, 1999.

Who gives a shit about sports?????????????????????? You moron!!!

-- Eddy (ShutYourFace@biteme.com), May 12, 1999.

CJS has one task on this board: to prevent the monitoring of resignations. Haven't you noticed the "division of labour" yet?

-- watching (theorganization@trolling.spin), May 12, 1999.

It was known for some time that Rubin was leaving. Routine departure.

-- Anonymous99 (Anonymous99@Anonymous99.xxx), May 12, 1999.

Anon,

Rubin has consistently denied rumors about his departure. There has been speculation about this for over two years. I think it's interesting how he bails out when this country has so many crisis going on.

-- Joe Smith (smitty@msn.com), May 12, 1999.

Watching-

I am not trying to prevent the monitoring of resignations. Please explain to me how I could do that? It would just be nice for someone to come up with some information that ties resignations, chemical plant explosions, inside sales-of-stock, etc. to Y2K rather than just irresponsibly alluding to it without a wisp of back-up information.

People retire everyday. There are thousands of chemical plant accidents every year. There are power outages everyday. These things have been happening for years. Were they attributable to Y2K in years past?

-- CJS (CJS@CJS.com), May 12, 1999.

I think I'll weigh in on this one a little. Rubin has been talking for retiring from the Treasury Dept for the last couple years. However, it is curious that he decided to stay on last fall when the market dipped (and coincidentally Goldman's IPOs were pulled off the market).

However the IPOs were placed on the market a couple weeks ago and Goldmans made $$$$$$. IMHO, Rubin accomplished his mission for the last 6 months. He will retire a multi-$$$$. I think I would too.

Whether it has to do with Y2k or not, I don't know. That it had to do with Goldman's IPO ... there is little doubt.

tim

-- tim daniels (timdaniels@commonsense.com), May 12, 1999.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/DailyNews/rubin990512.html

[for educational use only]

Robert Rubin to Resign

By Ron Fournier

The Associated Press

W A S H I N G T O N, May 12  Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, idolized on Wall Street for the policies that spurred an enduring boom in the U.S. economy, is stepping down and will be succeeded by his deputy, Lawrence Summers.

President Clinton was to announce the long-rumored change at a Rose Garden ceremony later today, the White House said.

Secretary Rubin will be leaving after playing an extraordinarily central role in this administration as far as our outstanding record of fiscal discipline and turning the economy around, said presidential spokesman Joe Lockhart.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 200 points when news of Rubins resignation first was reported but quickly recovered most of that ground.

Not a Total Surprise

Rubins departure was not unexpected. It has long been rumored that the former investment banker, who made $26 million in private life with the prestigious firm Goldman Sachs & Co. the year before joining the administration in 1993, wanted to return to private life.

His wife, Judith, has never moved to Washington, living in New York City throughout his term in office.

Administration officials said Rubin, 60, discussed his decision with Clinton within the past week and said Rubins decision was fueled solely by his desire to return to private life after working for Clinton since the start of his administration.

He just decided it was time to get back to private life, one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said Rubin is expected to stay at Treasury through July.

Lewinsky Scandal Delayed Departure

Rubin had considered leaving sooner, but did not want to leave during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, said one official familiar with his thinking.

Before taking over at Treasury in 1995, succeeding former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, Rubin headed Clintons National Economic Council, with the task of creating harmony among more than a dozen agencies that advise the president on the economy.

On Wall Street and among business leaders, Rubin was widely credited as the driving force behind Clintons economic policies, including the early budget cuts that eventually helped set the nation on course for its first balanced budget in decades.

Rubin worked closely with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan during economic crises such as the stock market drop in late 1997 and the Asian currency crisis that also hit Russia and threatened South America.

Could Succeed Greenspan

Rubin has long been viewed as a possible top candidate for the Federal Reserve chairmanship if Greenspan should choose to retire.

Clinton plans to nominate Summers, a former Harvard University professor who oversaw the administrations efforts to stem the Asian financial crisis, as his third treasury secretary, the senior official said.

Stuart Eizenstat, an undersecretary at the State Department, is Clintons choice to replace Summers as second in command at Treasury.

Before joining the Clinton administration, Rubin had spent nearly his entire career inside one of Wall Streets most powerful money machines, the prestigious investment firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Moved Up Within Goldman

He joined the company in 1966, and became a young star in risk arbitrage  speculating on the stocks of companies subject to takeover attempts. He later ran the firms stock and bond trading departments, and revived its commodities subsidiary. He became co- chairman of the company in 1990.

Even with his strong business ties, Rubin proudly proclaims his Democratic heritage. He said it comes from his grandfather, a leader in a machine-style Brooklyn political club.

Rubin has described himself as a centrist, particularly on economic issues, while staking out more liberal positions on social and urban issues. He has pushed hard for private investment in economically depressed inner city neighborhoods.

Rubin was born in New York City in 1938 and grew up in Miami Beach, the son of a lawyer. He graduated from Harvard College with highest honors in economics and quit Harvard Law School after three days to see the world.

He later studied at the London School of Economics and received a law degree from Yale. He spent two years at a New York law firm before switching careers.

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-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), May 12, 1999.

ROTFLMAO. Someone above said that Rubin was 40 and looked 70. He's 60. ROTFLMAO Sorry, can't help myself.

-- GeeGee (GeeGee@madtown.com), May 12, 1999.

Newsweek ran basically this story five months ago. **YAWN**

Chuck Wake me for some REAL news.

-- chuck, a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), May 12, 1999.

It is a little-known fact within hockey circles that Wayne Gretzky had virtually no choice but to retire prior to the 1999-2000 season. As most folks know, Gretz wears, make that wore, #99. His plan was to change to #00 for next season in order to bring awareness of Y2K to the millions of hockey fans around the world.

Commissioner John Ziegler of the National Hockey League banned the wearing of #00 some twenty years ago, apparently at the behest of one Peter De Jager. BTW, John Davidson, former goalie for the sad-sack N.Y. Rangers (sorry BD) was the last player to wear #00.

TMALSS, Gretz & the league butted heads. The Great One, knowing the Rangers would not have a competitive team for several more years (at least), and having been shot down by Gary Bettmen (sp) on the #00 issue, decided to hang up his skates.

See what happens when I miss my daily dose of Paxil!

-- Bingo1 (howe9@pop.shentel.net), May 12, 1999.

Rubin also started talking about Y2K a couple years ago.

-- Shimrod (shimrod@lycosmail.com), May 12, 1999.

Who knows if there is any deeper meaning other than he wanted to do something else.

I do find it strange that the TV media folks immediately assigned a deeper meaning, to wit: this means the global financial crisis is over because he'd never quit in the middle of a crisis.

I did find that divination odd. Since when has an excess of confidence been the default reason for a high level resignation?

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), May 12, 1999.

As noted above, Rubin has wanted out for quite some time. Given that there are only a few months left in the current administration, and there are no massive crises at present, this is as good a time as any for him to leave.

Rubin has been a stabilizer for the more activist tendencies of Summers and the President. With him gone, expect to see more of an "interventionist" approach to financial issues. Summers (the classic brilliant, rumpled, arrogant academic) will be a big change from the polished "insider" style of Rubin. Stay tuned.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), May 12, 1999.

As Treasury Secretary, is Rubin's money in trust that he cannot influence? If so, perhaps there is now a reason he wants to be able to shuffle his funds around. Maybe he feels that time is growing short. Just curious.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), May 12, 1999.

If you worked for a lying scumbag of a boss, wouldn't you want to resign too? He probably doesn't want to get any Serbian blood on his hands.

-- Mr. Adequate (mr@adequate.com), May 12, 1999.

Rubin retires and the media sees it as a positive sign that all is well. The doomers see it as a sign he knows too much, a rat fleeing from a sinking ship, etc., doesn't want Serbian blood on his hands. Why am I not surprised?

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), May 14, 1999.