Como se combate o populismo? "Com eleições", responde Fukuyama

[Horaclito]

Muitissimo bem escolhido pelo presidente Bush, homem com grande categoria (este não é só diplomado em treta como diz o nosso carissimo Medina Carreira).

Cumps

[Mrs Bird]

Paulson to the Rescue?
Treasury nominee Henry Paulson has lots of Street cred -- but little time to work on real issues, like entitlements or the tax code


Will Hank Paulson be George W. Bush's Bob Rubin? At first glance, the similarities between the former Treasury Secretary and the man nominated for the job on May 30 are eerie. When President Bill Clinton chose Robert Rubin to be his second Treasury Secretary, he picked the former co-chairman of the investment banking house Goldman Sachs (GS ). Rubin was a 26-year veteran of the firm who was steeped in the financial markets, and highly respected on Wall Street. But during his tenure in New York, he was a relative unknown in Washington. Advertisement

President Bush's choice to be his third Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, is also chairman of Goldman, where he has worked for 32 years. Like Rubin, he is well regarded among Wall Street colleagues and competitors as a smart, tough executive and a hugely successful investment banker. And, like Rubin, Paulson has largely eschewed Washington policy over his long career.

But Rubin became the single most powerful economic adviser to Clinton because the President showed great deference to Rubin's ideas and his knowledge of the markets. Rubin also had the opportunity to develop a close relationship with Clinton long before taking the Treasury post, first as an informal campaign adviser and fundraiser, and later as a trusted senior White House aide.

NO CHEERLEADER. Rubin used his Wall Street credibility to build bridges to the GOP. Even though he was a Democrat, Rubin spoke a language that Republicans understood. Paulson also would bring great financial cred to his new job. But using it to sell Bush economics to Hill Democrats won't be easy. "He brings a lot of reputational capital to the job," says Isabel Sawhill, director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution. "The big question is: How will that strength be used by the White House?"

Paulson does not have Rubin's close personal relationship to the President. Bush, indeed, has often distanced himself from Wall Street executives, seeking input from manufacturing and energy companies rather than financial firms.

And in recent years, Bush has increasingly brought economic decision-making inside the White House, leaving his Cabinet secretaries with little to say about the formation of domestic policy. His first Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, found himself on the outs after he aggressively pushed an agenda of his own. Bush's second Treasury boss, John Snow, has had little to do but promote policies made by others and wave the flag for economic growth.

ALUMNI RELATIONS. Paulson isn't giving up a $38.3 million pay package -- the most lucrative on Wall Street -- to be a mere cheerleader, however. When he was first approached about the job six or seven weeks ago by the White House staff, he declined, according to a former Bush Administration official.

The person who helped convince Paulson to change his mind was Joshua Bolten, a Goldman alumnus whom Bush recently named White House chief of staff. He helped persuade Paulson to meet with Bush on Saturday, May 20. The President told Paulson that he really wanted a "very senior person" from Wall Street in the position, according to a second source familiar with the situation. This source says that Bush said he wanted Paulson to play a broader role in his Administration than previous Treasury secretaries had. He will be Bush's "principal adviser" on economic matters. Paulson felt he couldn't turn down the President's request to serve his country, the source said.

Still, the crucial question is whether any Treasury Secretary, even without potential constraints, can make much difference in two and a half years, the remaining time in Bush's presidency. William Niskanen, chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute and a former economic aide to President Ronald Reagan, says it's not too late to rejuvenate a stagnant economic agenda, although time is growing short.

MYSTERY VIEWS. Niskanen notes that Reagan won congressional approval of a massive tax-reform bill two years before leaving office, in 1986, and Clinton signed landmark welfare, telecommunications, and agriculture reform legislation in his last two years in office. However, work on all those measures was well along earlier in those administrations. And Bush, says Niskanen, "has given up on his agenda."

If Paulson does get the green light to help develop a new economic platform, his policy views are something of a mystery. Paulson has written in support of free-trade and tax cuts, but these are motherhood-and apple pie issues for a Wall Streeter. His real challenges are the need to reform such long-term entitlements as Medicare and Social Security and the need to rethink the tax code. And on these subjects, he has had little to say -- at least in public.

Bush has talked about doing both, but those ideas have been moribund since last year. To be revived, Bush and his Treasury Secretary will need to convince Democrats that the President is serious about building bipartisan consensus. And at this point in the Bush Presidency, that will be a tough sell.

GREEN CHAMPION. Paulson's only known policy passion is the environment. He is chairman of the Nature Conservancy, a private nonprofit that acquires environmentally sensitive land and has raised concerns about global warming. That view already has Paulson in hot water with some conservatives, but there are few environmental issues in Treasury's portfolio. "He's way too green for some folks," says the former Bush Administration source. "But he's not going to be running the EPA or the Interior Dept."

Barring the disclosure of some unforeseen scandal, Paulson is likely to win Senate confirmation easily. But can he break the partisan logjam that grips Washington? The answer to that will say much more about George W. Bush than Hank Paulson.

in www.businessweek.com

[Mrs Bird]

Paulson picks bird watching over golf
Associated Press

Goldman Sachs chief Henry M. Paulson, U.S. President George Bush's choice to be Treasury secretary, is a 32-year Wall Street veteran, just at ease in the pressure-cooker world of finance as he is in pursuing his passions for fishing and bird watching.

Mr. Paulson, 60, has served as chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, a premier Wall Street firm, since May 1999. He started out in the company's Chicago office in 1974 and rose through the ranks.

Although most of his career has been on Wall Street, Mr. Paulson did short stints in Washington during the Nixon administration in the 1970s, where he worked at the Pentagon and the White House.

More recently, as chairman of the Financial Services Forum, a group of financial chiefs, Mr. Paulson has been engaged in a variety of financial matters in Washington.

Although Mr. Paulson is known as one not to crave the spotlight, he isn't afraid to be in its glare.

In the wake of the corporate accounting scandals that rocked Wall Street and badly rattled stocks, Mr. Paulson gave a bold speech before the National Press Club in Washington that called for the revamping of the governance and auditing processes at U.S. corporations.

For all of the unusually heavy business acumen, Mr. Paulson defies typecasting.

At Dartmouth College, he was an all-Ivy League football lineman and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. He went on to earn an MBA at Harvard University.

A millionaire many times over, Mr. Paulson enjoys fly fishing and bird watching — often solitary pursuits. He is chairman of the Nature Conservancy and the chairman emeritus of the Peregrine Fund.

Mr. Paulson will replace John Snow, who took the Treasury helm in February 2003.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Paulson would be the president's third treasury secretary and would serve as the main salesmen for the White House's economic policies.

At the Rose Garden ceremony Tuesday, where President Bush announced his choice, the Goldman Sachs chief stood with his hands in his pockets, squinting in the sunshine.

Mr. Paulson gripped both sides of the podium as he talked about his more than three decades in finance and the role of the United States in the global economy.

“It is truly a marvel,” he said of the U.S. economy. “But we cannot take it for granted. We must take steps to maintain our competitive edge in the world.”

NAME — Henry (Hank) Merritt Paulson Jr.

AGE-BIRTH DATE-LOCATION — 60; born March 28, 1946, in Palm Beach, Fla.

EXPERIENCE — Became chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs in May 1999. He had been a director of the company since August 1998. He joined the company in 1974. Worked on President Nixon's White House Domestic Council as staff assistant, 1972-1973. Worked at the Pentagon, 1970-1972. Chairs Board of Directors of the Nature Conservancy.

EDUCATION — B.A. in English, Dartmouth College, 1968; M.B.A, Harvard University, 1970.

FAMILY — wife, Wendy; two children, Henry Merritt III and Amanda Clark.

In http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... y/Business

[Ulisses Pereira]

"CEO da Goldman Sachs
Paulson substitui Snow como Secretário de Tesouro dos EUAO presidente dos Estados Unidos, George W. Bush, escolheu o presidente executivo da Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson, para substituir o actual Secretário do Tesouro norte-americano, John Snow."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Susana Domingos
sdomingos@mediafin.pt


Ana Filipa Rego
arego@mediafin.pt



"Henry Paulson, presidente-executivo da Goldman Sachs, vai ser nomeado para substituir o actual Secretário do Tesouro dos EUA, John Snow, confirmou o porta-voz da Casa Branca, Tony Snow.

O actual responsável pela pasta do Tesouro norte-americano, John Snow, já tinha avançado que iria renunciar ao cargo em Junho deste ano, uma decisão que lançou a especulação em torno do seu substituto.

Ao longo da manhã, o nome de Donald Evans, ex-Secretário do Comércio norte-americano e amigo pessoal do presidente George W. Bush, chegou a ser avançado pela imprensa britânica. O colunista do "Times On-line", Gerard Baker, não só avançava o nome de Evans, como referia que seria um defensor da política do dólar fraco.

A especulação em torno da possibilidade de Evans vir a assumir o cargo de Secretário do Tesouro, levaram o dólar a registar ao longo da manhã a queda mais acentuada das últimas seis semanas.

A Casa Branca apressou-se a clarificar que seria Henry Paulson, actual presidente-executivo da Goldman Sachs, o nome escolhido por para substituir Snow. Caso o Senado confirme a nomeação de Paulson, este será o mais recente executivo da casa de investimento a assumir a pasta do Tesouro, depois de Robert Rubin ter assumido o cargo durante a Administração Clinton.

Os especialistas do mercado de capitais vêem com bons olhos o nome agora anunciado, uma vez que Paulson tem uma longa experiência em relação a Wall Street e, por isso, deverá contribuir para a manutenção da calma nos mercados financeiros. "

(in www.negocios.pt)