The Greenspan Clause

Lots of wailing during the past few days about the Wall Street paychecks Larry Summers collected before his current stint in Washington. But on the fairly safe assumption that Obama won't ask him to stay on, less than a year from now Ben Bernanke will be free to receive similar paychecks from the same firms that benefited or survived because of decisions he made. Incredible, isn't it? Eventually Geithner will follow. Instead of waiting until that happens to rant/report on it, commenters/the press should focus on this story right now.

Congress needs to fix this with a blanket restriction that covers all current and future Fed, Treasury, and White House officials involved in the bailouts. Give anyone who feels it will affect his future standard of living a few days to resign without being subject to it. (And wouldn't it be interesting to see who objects or tries to stop it?) It's stunning and shameful that this hasn't been done yet.

For more, be sure to read this post by Glenn Greenwald.