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Informationen zum Autor Robert E. Rubin served as the 70th U.S. Treasury Secretary from 1995 to 1999, after serving as the first director of the White House National Economic Council. In these roles, he helped achieve the first federal budget surplus in a generation, address international financial crises, and resolve a debt-ceiling standoff, among much else. Rubin is the author of In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington , a New York Times bestseller. He spent twenty-six years at Goldman Sachs, rising to co-senior partner, and was a senior counselor and board member at Citigroup. He currently serves as counselor to the independent investment advisory firm Centerview Partners, as co-chairman emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, and as chair of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Rubin is a founder of The Hamilton Project, at the Brookings Institution, which promotes broad-based economic growth. A former member of the Harvard Corporation, he graduated from Harvard summa cum laude and from Yale Law School. Klappentext "In The Yellow Pad, former United States Secretary of the Treasury and co-chairman of Goldman Sachs Robert Rubin sets out a number of methods and processes that have guided him through moments of crisis. He offers both qualitative and quantitative ways of sifting through difficult economic and social problems, the sum of which is an original intellectual framework that can be applied to both the most global universal problems and the daily dilemmas individuals face. Rubin speaks across generations and the political divide, engaging with the most contested and emotional issues of our times, and seeking to propose realistic policy solutions to move society forward without leaving anyone behind"-- Leseprobe • Chapter I • Reacting VERSUS Responding The invitation was written on lined, three-hole-punched paper. The handwriting was tidy, with every letter an identical height, signed by someone named Shadeed Wallace-Stepter. "I know you're a very busy dude," it read. "But if you can ever find the time I want to formally invite you to San Quentin." That's how I ended up giving a talk in a California state prison. During my career, I've entered plenty of intimidating buildings, from the White House and the Capitol to Wall Street banks and corporate headquarters. Still, visiting San Quentin was different. A massive stone fortress overlooking San Francisco Bay, the prison has housed some of our country's most notorious figures over the years. More than any place except Alcatraz Island, San Quentin is synonymous with the American penitentiary. It was impossible not to feel the building's symbolic weight. Before our arrival, my wife, Judy, and I were told which colors we could wear-different types of people were required to dress in different colors for easy identification. Upon arriving at the gate, we emptied our pockets and were checked for weapons by guards in green uniforms, who then took us to a large room filled with incarcerated men dressed in blue pants and blue shirts. After being introduced (and after Judy recovered my speech, which I had dropped on the floor while walking to the stage), I addressed a room filled with men who had been convicted of serious crimes: murder, drug dealing, and armed robbery, to name just a few. Initially, I must admit, I had not been sure that agreeing to the invitation was a good idea. I wasn't troubled, in a moral sense, about speaking to people who had committed crimes. It is my firm belief that we are all flawed. That view, coupled with my dislike for absolutes, means that while I have no problem thinking of individuals' actions as good or bad, I don't tend to sort people that way. Some people do serious and even terrible harm to others, and I believe that one of society's important functions is to protect pe...
