JH: You wrote about Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan in the Wall Street Journal as another example.

MG: Yes. The government is also investigating JP Morgan and other American companies for hiring relatives of government officials in China and other countries. That only makes sense if they are not qualified or not doing their jobs. Let’s get real—coming from a certain family doesn’t stop people from getting jobs in America, and Washington’s K Street lobbying firms are full of former officials and former members of Congress. Political donors and supporters become ambassadors and take other key government positions. Why stop U.S. companies from hiring capable and well-connected people by applying a standard we don’t use at home?

JH: Do you see another financial bubble because the Federal Reserve is in overdrive?

MG: There’s no way out. I don’t see any way out. What we have to do really is make it easier for business to grow and to prosper. We have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. Now, how does that help the country? If you want to avoid the consequences of what we’ve done, you’ve got to counterbalance that by some intelligent action on how to get business going rapidly to pay the taxes that are needed—not at the highest tax rate, but a more moderate tax rate to create jobs and income. You can’t do it by saying, “Well, we’re going to get rid of debt by taxing everybody more.” That’s proven to be wrong—just look at Europe. But how do you get into the minds of those who are socialists by nature? That’s what we have; we are now approaching a socialist society.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/north sea deamer. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Image: Essay Types: The Realist