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When Hindsight Is Not 20/20

Surely the financial crisis of 2008 and its immediate aftermath could have been handled better; battlefield medicine is never perfect. But there is not even a prima facie case to be made for Rob Johnson and George Soros’s allegations of foolish ineptitude on the part of the Obama administration.

CAMBRIDGE – George Soros is a great man. His record speaks to his financial acumen. And no philanthropist or philanthropic institution did more than he to make the world a better place in the second half of the twentieth century.

Unfortunately, his memory of events in 2008 and the couple of conversations we had back then is faulty. Moreover, his analysis of the policy options open to the US government in 2009 falls well short of his usual degree of sophistication. Surely the financial crisis of 2008 and its immediate aftermath could have been handled better; battlefield medicine is never perfect. But there is not even a prima facie case to be made for Johnson and Soros’s allegations of foolish ineptitude on the part of the administration in which I served.

Readers of their argument may want to consider the following points.

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