Wait just a second, Mr. Brooks

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 ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

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.  

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. 

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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