Joe Nocera has a great "
exit interview" with Sheila Bair, who is stepping down as head of the FDIC.
We have her, more than anybody else in the administration (arguably, more even than Elizabeth Warren, yes) to thank for the Dodd-Frank financial regulation reform bill actually having any teeth. We have her to thank for the fact that while non-investment American banks aren't the healthiest, they're healthier than those in Europe. We have her to thank for the fact that the unholy mix of Alan Greenspan and retread Clintonistas with Goddam Sachs connections (plus Henry Paulson, who's not a Clintonista) didn't make "too big to fail" even more set in concrete than it is.
Her "reward"? No goodbye encomiums from Obama. No offer to make her head of the financial regulation commission if Warren is deemed too "toxic" to get past Congress. No appointment as a White House economic adviser to replace all those who have left.
Nope. Just the door.
A shame.
Read the story and you'll see how much we owe Sheila Bair. As well as how much she was unable to change Team Obama.
AND ... she's a Republican, no less.
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