John Allison, former chairman of BB&T, is an Ayn Rand acolyte, gold standard proponent, and 'let banks have their own way with no regulation' special snowflake. Rumor has it that he's also under consideration for the Treasury Department. It's coming from anonymous sources, so take it for what it's worth right now.
Former BB&T Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Allison is a late entrant on a short-list for the job of U.S. Treasury secretary, according to two people familiar with President-elect Donald Trump’s selection process.
Steven Mnuchin, an ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner, remains a leading candidate for the job, while David McCormick from Bridgewater Associates LP is also under consideration, according to the people. Some sources say Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas is still a candidate. Jonathan Gray was a possible pick for the job, though he said in a statement Wednesday he still has “much work to do” at Blackstone Group LP.
Allison, 68, is a director at investment bank Moelis & Co. and is a former president and CEO of Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Washington where he is now on the group’s board of directors. He’s been a critic of the Federal Reserve and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the government’s effort to purchase toxic assets from financial institutions following the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
Here's what he said in 2009 when everyone was losing their homes:
Speaking at a recent convention in Boston to a group of like-minded business people and students, Mr. Allison tells a story: A boy is playing in a sandbox, only to have his truck taken by another child. A fight ensues, and the boy’s mother tells him to stop being selfish and to share.
“You learned in that sandbox at some really deep level that it’s bad to be selfish,” says Mr. Allison, adding that the mother has taught a horrible lesson. “To say man is bad because he is selfish is to say it’s bad because he’s alive.”
It would be 1929 all over again!
Josh Barro stirred up a tweetstorm about it.
I sure hope he's right.
