New Deputy Mayor, Old Faces by Joel Chaffee
New Deputy Mayor, Old Faces
 New York, NY
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 by Joel Chaffee
 
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Mayor Bloomberg's new Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Robert  
Steel, is the current chair of the board at Duke University - which,  
even though they won me the pool in March, does not strike immediate  
affection within me.
 
The Mayor's press release cites a seemingly impossible number of jobs  
and affiliations for Steel. Among the most dazzling are Goldman Sachs  
(28 years of service), President and CEO of Wachovia Bank (too easy),  
and the startling admission that "Steel was a key architect of the  
government's [wildly unpopular] response to the crisis in the credit  
and mortgage markets." It's like admitting you cut the cheese when  
everyone makes a face.
 
Further, while at Goldman, Steel "steered the firm's strategy, oversaw  
its training and diversity initiatives, and served as its point person  
with regulators and key clients." And then he became a regulator  
himself, just like Warren G. When called before Congress to defend the  
actions of the U.S Treasury during the bailouts, Steele claimed that  
the Fed had encouraged low prices for the dying banks because "the  
government did not want to encourage risky behavior by other large  
institutions." This after years of not exactly oversight or restraint.
 
In the position of Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Steel is  
replacing Robert Lieber, a former investment banker at Lehman  
Brothers, who is "leaving City Hall to return to the private sector."  
Exactly as Bloomberg's first appointee to the position, Dan Doctoroff,  
did; Doctoroff is currently earning for Bloomberg L.P.
 
In May, Steel made AlterNet's America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists  
list, pointing out that when the "FDIC wanted to put [Wachovia]  
through receivership ....Steel's buddies at the Treasury and Fed  
intervened ...and arranged a merger with Wells Fargo," noting that  
Steel now serves on Fargo's board of directors. Small world.
 
The Mayor hopes that Steel will "create jobs today and implement  
innovative measures." One imagines they will be measures like those  
implemented at Goldman's Equity Capital Markets, which Steel founded.  
The Mayor's office boasts that while in this position, Steel was a  
"trusted advisor to European governments and corporations trying to  
privatize major state-owned enterprises." With efforts to make private  
the cost of everything from homeless shelters to the schools and the  
sidewalks, the Steel choice is appropriate.
 
Incidentally, when I read the name Steel, I can't help but think of  
Michael Steele, the GOP's top goof. He is very humorous to recall. In  
the same laughable way that Steele has, Steel appeared on the Jim  
Cramer show in 2008, being introduced as "a visionary and a hard  
worker. Someone who gets it, and knows that the banking system is in  
big trouble." Big enough to, as Matt Taibbi reported in Rolling Stone,  
obtain "himself and his fellow executives $225 million in golden- 
parachute payments as [Wachovia] was self-destructing."
 
When Cramer sought Steel's opinion about how we ended up in the mire  
that was 2008, Steel pointed out that for the last 6 to 8 years,  
"There was no penalty without risk" in the economy. "So everywhere  
people were taking on more risk." So much so that, "people thought of  
their homes as ATMs." Any fool can tell you the ATMs are at the state  
house.
 
Steel did show a heavy heart for Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers,  
saying, "This is about people and their careers," assuring Cramer  
that, "We're working through this and we're making progress,"  
defending the actions of the Fed, while cautioning with prescience  
about, "Unattractive unemployment signs coming forward."
 
All that is missing from Robert Steel's resume is the Hoover Institute  
and a sports franchise. That he'll continue the Mayor's policy of  
favoring private financing of the city is certain. As Jim Cramer said  
when greeting Steel for their interview, "You're a reassuring face.  
Maybe you shouldn't be, but you are." And Steel's response? The  
inexorably confident, "Well, I'm here."
 
 
Bloomberg's new Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Robert  
Steel, is the current chair of the board at Duke University - which,  
even though they won me the pool in March, does not strike immediate  
affection within me.
 
 
 
The Mayor's press release cites a seemingly impossible number of jobs  
and affiliations for Steel. Among the most dazzling are Goldman Sachs  
(28 years of service), President and CEO of Wachovia Bank (too easy),  
and the startling admission that "Steel was a key architect of the  
government's [wildly unpopular] response to the crisis in the credit  
and mortgage markets." It's like admitting you cut the cheese when  
everyone makes a face.
 
 
 
Further, while at Goldman, Steel "steered the firm's strategy, oversaw  
its training and diversity initiatives, and served as its point person  
with regulators and key clients." And then he became a regulator  
himself, just like Warren G. When called before Congress to defend the  
actions of the U.S Treasury during the bailouts, Steele claimed that  
the Fed had encouraged low prices for the dying banks because "the  
government did not want to encourage risky behavior by other large  
institutions." This after years of not exactly oversight or restraint.
 
 
 
In the position of Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Steel is  
replacing Robert Lieber, a former investment banker at Lehman  
Brothers, who is "leaving City Hall to return to the private sector."  
Exactly as Bloomberg's first appointee to the position, Dan Doctoroff,  
did; Doctoroff is currently earning for Bloomberg L.P.
 
 
 
In May, Steel made AlterNet's America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists  
list, pointing out that when the "FDIC wanted to put [Wachovia]  
through receivership ....Steel's buddies at the Treasury and Fed  
intervened ...and arranged a merger with Wells Fargo," noting that  
Steel now serves on Fargo's board of directors. Small world.
 
 
 
The Mayor hopes that Steel will "create jobs today and implement  
innovative measures." One imagines they will be measures like those  
implemented at Goldman's Equity Capital Markets, which Steel founded.  
The Mayor's office boasts that while in this position, Steel was a  
"trusted advisor to European governments and corporations trying to  
privatize major state-owned enterprises." With efforts to make private  
the cost of everything from homeless shelters to the schools and the  
sidewalks, the Steel choice is appropriate.
 
 
 
Incidentally, when I read the name Steel, I can't help but think of  
Michael Steele, the GOP's top goof. He is very humorous to recall. In  
the same laughable way that Steele has, Steel appeared on the Jim  
Cramer show in 2008, being introduced as "a visionary and a hard  
worker. Someone who gets it, and knows that the banking system is in  
big trouble." Big enough to, as Matt Taibbi reported in Rolling Stone,  
obtain "himself and his fellow executives $225 million in golden- 
parachute payments as [Wachovia] was self-destructing."
 
 
 
When Cramer sought Steel's opinion about how we ended up in the mire  
that was 2008, Steel pointed out that for the last 6 to 8 years,  
"There was no penalty without risk" in the economy. "So everywhere  
people were taking on more risk." So much so that, "people thought of  
their homes as ATMs." Any fool can tell you the ATMs are at the state  
house.
 
 
 
Steel did show a heavy heart for Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers,  
saying, "This is about people and their careers," assuring Cramer  
that, "We're working through this and we're making progress,"  
defending the actions of the Fed, while cautioning with prescience  
about, "Unattractive unemployment signs coming forward."
 
 
 
All that is missing from Robert Steel's resume is the Hoover Institute  
and a sports franchise. That he'll continue the Mayor's policy of  
favoring private financing of the city is certain. As Jim Cramer said  
when greeting Steel for their interview, "You're a reassuring face.  
Maybe you shouldn't be, but you are." And Steel's response? The  
inexorably confident, "Well, I'm here."
 

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Last updated  New York, NY 10.06.23  by Joel Chaffee

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