Wait just a second, Mr. Brooks

Posted By Daniel W. Drezner Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - 6:06 PM Share

Like Noam Scheiber, I really enjoyed David Brooks' column today about how the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street are now under the thumb of rules and codes set by Bobos burning with Status-Income Disequilibrium.

That said, this paragraph gnawed at me a little:

For those who don’t know, Ward Three is a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., where many Democratic staffers, regulators, journalists, lawyers, Obama aides and senior civil servants live. Thanks to recent and coming bailouts and interventions, the people in Ward Three run the banks and many major industries. Through this power, they get to insert themselves into the intricacies of upscale life, influencing when private jets can be flown, when friends can lend each other their limousines and at what golf resorts corporate learning retreats can be held (emphasis added)

As a small-l libertarian, I should sympathise with this point. But the thing is, no one pointed a gun at Wall Street and forced them to come to Washington hat in hand. In large part they got themselves into this mess, and now need the federal government to get them out.

If you take the government's money, you're going to have to live with Ward Three types asking nosy questions. If you don't like that, try to avoid having to ask the government for a bailout.

EXPLORE:BOBOS, DAVID BROOKS, FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

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DATROY

6:44 PM ET

February 3, 2009

Not all the banks came asking

Not all the banks came asking for money, or had an opportunity to say no when Washington all but forced them to take it.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/6087315.html

Fair enough, Merrill is not one of these, but Washington politicians and bureaucrats have a way of lumping "bankers" all together when they want to get all populist and decry "Wall Street greed"

ALEXT

5:50 PM ET

February 4, 2009

Conditionality

Great point, Dan. I wonder what David Brooks thinks about IMF conditionality. Those who give the money will obviously want some control. And while Wall Street might have been able to argue a year ago that they know best how to run their companies and to make smart market decisions, that argument isn't nearly as compelling these days.

In any case, Brooks' argument isn't very compelling. Ward 3 is home to some of the fanciest neighborhoods in the country: Foxhall, Spring Valley, Cleveland Park, etc. The idea that its denizens are jealous of those living an "upscale" life seems far-fetched to me.

STS

4:47 AM ET

February 5, 2009

Typical Brooksian tripe.

Typical Brooksian tripe. Like so much of the mainstream media these days, reading that column is way too much like overhearing status conscious chit-chat at a swanky cocktail party. The precious sense of humor, the implicit certainty that the world revolves around them. Insider gossip masquerading as political commentary. The constant sucking up to money and power. Frankly, it's embarrassing. Brooks is almost as nauseating as Maureen Dowd.

Brooks and Dowd are a pair of Louis XVI side chairs waiting to be tossed into a bonfire.