The Clinton and Obama policies did nothing to lessen the economic inequality that had been increasing since 1970. Their failure created a desperation in the working class that led to complete disillusionment with the Democrats and faith in an outlier as their savior. The establishment Democrats believe that this-time-will-be-different. Biden will do what Clinton and Obama could not.
At the end of this last April, however, Reuters broke the news that Larry Summers was advising Biden's campaign.
In Part IV of his award winning documentary inside Job, Charles Ferguson exposed the rampant corruption in the prominent academic economists because of undisclosed conflicts of interest. They receive huge payments from Wall Street, don't disclose even when Wall Street has paid for an opinion, and pose as neutral academics when they are better seen as well-paid lobbyists for bankers and businesses.
In commentary afterwards, Ferguson identified Larry Summers as the most harmful in this group of knaves:
"Summers is unquestionably brilliant, as all who have dealt with him, including myself, quickly realize. And yet rarely has one individual embodied so much of what is wrong with economics, with academe, and indeed with the American economy. For the past two years, I have immersed myself in those worlds in order to make a film, Inside Job, that takes a sweeping look at the financial crisis. And I found Summers everywhere I turned."
What can be so disturbing. First let's look at how much this university professor's net worth increased after a 10 year stint in government. The Guardian quotes from Ferguson's later book P redator Nation:
"Upon being nominated Treasury Secretary by President Clinton in 1999, Summers listed assets of about $900,000 and debts, including a mortgage, of $500,000. By the time he returned in 2009 to serve in the Obama administration, he reported a net worth between $17 million and $39 million."
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