Robert Edward Rubin (born August 29, 1938) is an American retired banking executive, lawyer, and former

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

official. He served as the 70th U.S. secretary of the treasury during the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

, eventually serving as a member of the board and co-chairman from 1990 to 1992. Rubin is credited as a force behind Clinton-era economic prosperity, including the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act and

Balanced Budget Act of 1997 The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 () was an omnibus legislative package enacted by the United States Congress, using the budget Reconciliation (U.S. Congress), reconciliation process, and designed to balance the federal budget by 2002. This act w ...

. However, critics of Rubin have since argued that the bank-friendly policies he supported contributed to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. As of 2024, Rubin is active in several organizations, including as a co-founder of

The Hamilton Project The Hamilton Project is an economic policy initiative within the Brookings Institution. It was originally launched in April 2006 by a combination of public policy makers, business people, academic leaders, and other former Clinton administration ec ...

, as co-chair emeritus of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, and as a senior counselor at

Centerview Partners Centerview Partners is an American independent investment banking firm founded in 2006. Centerview operates primarily as an Independent advisory firm, investment banking advisory firm with approximately 80 partners and 500 professionals advising ...

Early life and education

Rubin was born on August 29, 1938, in New York City to Jewish parents Sylvia (née Seiderman) and Alexander Rubin. He moved to

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, at an early age and graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School. In 1960, Rubin graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', in economics from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

. He then attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

for three days before leaving to travel the world. He later attended the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and received an LL.B. from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

in 1964.

Early career

Rubin was an attorney at the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York City from 1964 to 1966 before joining

in 1966 as an associate in the

risk arbitrage Risk arbitrage, also known as merger arbitrage, is an investment strategy that speculates on the successful completion of mergers and acquisitions. An investor that employs this strategy is known as an arbitrageur. Risk arbitrage is a type of eve ...

department. He later served as co-

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

, and became co-senior partner and co-chairman in 1990. Rubin served as New York finance chairman for the

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

presidential campaign in 1984 and headed the host committee for the 1992

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in New York. He served on the board of directors of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

Market Oversight and Financial Services Advisory Committee, and advisory panels for New York Gov.

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

and Mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. Dinkins was among the more than 20,000 Montford Point Marine Associa ...

Clinton administration

From January 25, 1993, to January 10, 1995, Rubin served in the White House as Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. In that capacity, he directed the National Economic Council, which

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

created after winning the presidency. The National Economic Council, or NEC, enabled the White House to coordinate closely the workings of the Cabinet departments and agencies on policies ranging from budget and tax to international trade and alleviating poverty. The NEC coordinated policy recommendations going into the President's office, and monitored implementation of the decisions that came out. Robert S. Strauss credited Rubin with making the system work. "He's surely the only man or woman in America that I know who could make the NEC succeed," Strauss said in 1994. "Anyone else would have been a disruptive force, and the council wouldn't have worked."

1993 Deficit Reduction Act

Rubin encouraged Clinton to focus on deficit reduction and he was "one of the chief architects" of Clinton's 1993 Deficit Reduction Act plan. Supporters said the Act helped create the late 1990s budget surplus and strong economic growth, while opponents noted it raised taxes. As officials deliberated the deficit reduction plan, Rubin advocated for tax increases on those in the upper-income tax bracket. ''The Baltimore Sun'' said that the budget deal "was critical" and "convinced nervous bond traders that the new Democratic president was serious about the deficit, lowering long-term interest rates, spurring economic growth and, ultimately, helping to balance the budget."

Secretary of the Treasury

Clinton nominated Rubin as Treasury secretary in December 1994. On January 10, 1995, Rubin was sworn in as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury after the U.S. Senate confirmed him in a 99-0 vote. Rubin's tenure with the Clinton administration, especially as the head of Treasury, was marked by economic prosperity in the U.S. Rubin is credited as one of the main individuals behind U.S. economic growth, creating near full-employment and bullish stock markets while avoiding inflation. From the time he joined the White House until he announced his resignation from Treasury in 1999, U.S. unemployment fell from 6.9 percent to 4.3 percent; the U.S. budget went from a $255 billion deficit to a $70 billion surplus, and inflation fell. Rubin was succeeded in early July 1999 as Treasury secretary by his deputy,

Lawrence Summers Lawrence Henry Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American economist who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 and as the director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010. He also served as presiden ...

. According to ''CNN Money'', Rubin was "one of the architects of the Clinton administration's economic policy, and is often credited—along with Federal Reserve Chairman

Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates L ...

—for the booming eight-year economic expansion, the second-longest in U.S. history". Senator

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( ; born October 4, 1946)

1990s international crises

Upon being sworn into office as Treasury secretary in January 1995, Rubin was confronted with the

Mexican peso crisis The Mexican peso crisis was a currency crisis sparked by the Mexican government's sudden devaluation of the peso against the U.S. dollar in December 1994, which became one of the first international financial crises ignited by capital flight. ...

, which threatened to result in Mexico defaulting on its foreign obligations. President

, with the advice of Rubin and Greenspan, provided $20 billion in U.S.

loan guarantee A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the ...

s to the Mexican government through the Exchange Stabilization Fund. Mexico recovered and the U.S. Treasury made a $580 million profit as a result of the loan agreement. In 1997 and 1998, Rubin, Greenspan, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Summers worked with the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and others to promote U.S. policy in response to financial crises in Russian, Asian, and Latin American financial markets. On the cover of its February 15, 1999, edition, ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'' dubbed the three policymakers "The Committee to Save the World".

Balanced budget agreement

Early in the Clinton administration, Rubin touted a balanced budget and a strong dollar as a way for the Fed to lower interest rates. He also argued that a balanced federal budget's broad benefits to society outweighed concerns that one group could benefit more than others. Rubin was the Clinton administration's chief negotiator with a Republican-controlled Congress on the balanced-budget deal. The

has been referred to as the "capstone" of Rubin's tenure as Treasury secretary.

Regulation of derivatives

In 1998, Rubin and

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

chairman

opposed giving the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures contract, fut ...

(CFTC) oversight of over-the-counter credit derivatives when this was proposed by

Brooksley Born Brooksley Elizabeth BornCalifornia Births, 1905 - 1995Brooksley Elizabeth Born/ref> (born August 27, 1940) is an American attorney and former public official who, from August 26, 1996, to June 1, 1999, was chair of the Commodity Futures Trading C ...

, then head of the CFTC. Rubin and other senior officials recommended Congress relieve the CFTC of regulatory authority over derivatives in November 1999. Over-the-counter credit derivatives were eventually excluded from regulation by the CFTC by the

Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA) is a United States federal law that ensures that Over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter (OTC) Derivative (finance), derivatives remained Financial regulation, unregulated. Commodity Ex ...

. According to a '' Frontline'' report, derivatives played a key role in the

. Arthur Levitt Jr., a former chairman of the

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

, has said in explaining Rubin's strong opposition to the regulations proposed by Born that Greenspan and Rubin were "joined at the hip on this. They were certainly very fiercely opposed to this and persuaded me that this would cause chaos." However, in Rubin's autobiography, he notes that he believed derivatives could pose significant problems and that many people who used derivatives did not fully understand the risks they were taking. In 2008, ''The New York Times'' reported that the proposal in 1997 would not have improved oversight of derivatives. Rubin said the financial system "could benefit from better regulation of derivatives". However, "the politics would have made this impossible," he said. Rubin said he had been concerned about derivatives' potential to create systemic risk since his time at Goldman Sachs. In an interview on ''ABCs '' This Week'' program in April 2010, former President Clinton said Rubin was wrong in the advice he gave him not to regulate derivatives, which was by then seen as one of the underlying causes of the

. Clinton adviser Doug Band later said Clinton "inadvertently conflated an analysis he received on a specific derivatives proposal with then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's arguments against any regulation of derivatives". He said Clinton still wished he had pursued legislation to regulate derivatives while confirming that he still believed he had received excellent advice on the economy and the financial system from Rubin and others during his presidency.

Urban policy

Rubin was a leading advocate for investment in distressed rural and urban communities in the Clinton administration, from his time with the NEC, leading the effort to expand the

Community Reinvestment Act The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA, P.L. 95-128, 91 Stat. 1147, title VIII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to h ...

, to his time at Treasury, where he advocated for more

community development financial institution A community development financial institution (US) or community development finance institution (UK) - abbreviated in both cases to CDFI - is a financial institution that provides credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations ...

s (CDFI) to invest in inner cities and increase the CDFI Fund. Addressing the needs of the urban poor was a top priority for Rubin during his tenure in the Clinton administration. Rubin also assisted with the Clinton administration's plan to increase

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

and

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

zones across the U.S. The initiative offered tax breaks for businesses investing in those zones.

Decline of the Glass-Steagall Act

As Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin was on the record for stating that the Glass-Steagall Act was obsolete and outdated, and indeed its provisions had become less effective over time. However, it was not until the late 1990s that the Congress and the Clinton administration finally came round to repealing the act. This resulted in part from lobbying pressure exercised by Sanford I. Weill on Congress and the White House to repeal the Act, and so allow the mega-merger he had organized between Travelers Group and Citicorp in 1998 to stand. Rubin resigned from the Clinton administration in July 1999. In October 1999, Rubin joined the leadership at Citigroup. Glass–Steagall was eventually repealed by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act under Rubin's successor, Lawrence Summers, and was signed by Clinton in November 1999.

Post-government career

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Upon leaving the Clinton administration, Rubin joined the board of the

Local Initiatives Support Corporation The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is a US non-profit organization, non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI) that supports community development initiatives across the country. It has offices in nearly 40 citi ...

(LISC), the nation's leading community development support organization, as chairman. Reflecting on his decision to join an institution devoted to bringing economic activity to neglected areas of the country, the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' said the following in an editorial: "Even before he became Bill Clinton's treasury secretary, during his days as a high-powered Wall Street executive, Rubin was passionate about fostering business investment as the way to fight poverty in depressed city and rural areas. That made him somewhat unusual among Democrats, who generally emphasized government anti-poverty programs."

Citigroup

Rubin joined

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

in 1999 as chairman of the executive committee of the board. In 2001,

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

, a major client of Citigroup, faced a credit ratings downgrade as a result of the

Enron scandal The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal sparked by American energy company Enron, Enron Corporation filing for bankruptcy after news of widespread internal fraud became public in October 2001, which led to the dissolution of its accounting ...

. Rubin called a ranking Treasury Department official, unsuccessfully seeking the Bush Administration's help in forestalling the downgrade. A subsequent staff investigation by the Senate Governmental Affairs committee cleared Rubin of having done anything illegal. Rubin later maintained that he had acted both as a Citigroup executive protecting his company's position and as a former Treasury official concerned about the impact that Enron's failure might have on the larger economy. Rubin rejected criticisms of a possible conflict of interest and has said that if faced with the same choice, he would do it again. Rubin briefly became chairman of Citigroup's board of directors from November 2007 to December 2007. According to ''The New York Times'', Rubin's role at Citigroup focused on meeting with clients and government and business leaders, bringing in business, and serving as a sounding board to bank leadership. As the ''Times'' reported in 2007, Rubin "has said publicly since he came to Citigroup in 1999 that he had no interest in running the bank". ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported Rubin joined Citigroup as a board member and as a participant "in strategic managerial and operational matters of the Company, but ..no line responsibilities". The newspaper called this mix of oversight and management responsibilities "murky". Following the

, critics argued Rubin increased risk-taking at Citigroup, thereby exposing the bank to greater losses, and that economic policies he promoted as Treasury secretary exacerbated the situation. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Rubin has stated that "he wasn't alone in failing to foresee the severity of the crisis that would emerge". Other industry observers criticized the lack of clarity about Rubin's role within the bank. The federal government spent $45 billion to acquire a stake in Citigroup in 2008 through the

Troubled Asset Relief Program The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. Presi ...

. Citigroup repaid $20 billion of the

bailout A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global syst ...

money in December 2009 and the Treasury sold its remaining stake one year later, for a total net profit of $12 billion. In December 2008, investors filed a lawsuit contending that Citigroup executives, including Rubin, sold shares at inflated prices while concealing the firm's risks. Citigroup settled the lawsuit in 2012, paying $590 million to claimants and denying any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Rubin resigned from Citigroup in 2009. Between 1999 and 2009, Rubin received total compensation, including

employee stock option Employee stock options (ESO or ESOPs) is a label that refers to compensation contracts between an employer and an employee that carries some characteristics of Options (finance), financial options. Employee stock options are commonly viewed as ...

s, of $126 million from Citigroup."Rethinking Bob Rubin From Goldman Sachs Star to Crisis Scapegoat"

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

His compensation was criticized, with writer

Nassim Nicholas Taleb Nassim Nicholas Taleb (; alternatively ''Nessim ''or'' Nissim''; born 12 September 1960) is a Lebanese-American essayist, mathematical statistician, former option trader, risk analyst, and aphorist. His work concerns problems of randomness, ...

noting that Rubin "collected more than $120 million in compensation from Citibank in the decade preceding the banking crash of 2008. When the bank, literally insolvent, was rescued by the taxpayer, he didn't write any check—he invoked uncertainty as an excuse." In 2010, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission interviewed Rubin as part of their investigation into the causes of the

and concluded that Rubin "may have violated the laws of the United States in relation to the financial crisis" related to his role at Citigroup. The commission unanimously voted to refer him to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

for further investigation; however, the DOJ did not pursue any further investigation or actions against Rubin.

Other work

On July 1, 2002, Rubin became a member of

Harvard Corporation The President and Fellows of Harvard College, also called the Harvard Corporation or just the Corporation, is the smaller and more powerful of Harvard University's two governing boards. It refers to itself as the oldest corporation in the Western ...

, the executive governing board of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He served as a member of the Harvard Corporation board until June 2014, and as of 2018, served on its finance committee. As of 2024, Rubin is involved in the

Hamilton Project The Hamilton Project is an economic policy initiative within the Brookings Institution. It was originally launched in April 2006 by a combination of public policy makers, business people, academic leaders, and other former Clinton administration ec ...

, an economic policy think tank he co-founded in 2006. He is co-chairman emeritus of the

. He serves as a trustee of

Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is the largest hospital network in New York City. It was formed in September 2013 by merging the operations of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center. The Health System is structured around eight ...

and as co-chair of the advisory board of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Additionally, Rubin serves as a senior counselor at

, an investment banking advisory firm based in New York City. Rubin was a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten individuals who advocated for equitable and sustainable development in Africa by publishing seven annual reports between 2009 and 2015. Rubin also served on the Global Citizenship Commission, convened by former British Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

, which reexamined and proposed an update to the United Nations' 1948

Universal Declaration on Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...

Books

Rubin's memoir, ''In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington'', co-written by

Jacob Weisberg Jacob Weisberg (born 1964) is an American political journalist, who served as editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company. In September 2018, he left Slate to co-found Pushkin Industries, an audio content company ...

, was a ''New York Times'' bestseller as well as one of ''

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

''s ten best business books of 2003. Rubin's second book, ''The Yellow Pad: Making Better Decisions in an Uncertain World'', was published in May 2023. In it, he writes about his approach to "probabilistic thinking", or understanding that every decision carries risk. The book was named one of the "Best Books of 2023" by ''

''.

Policy views

Economic policies

Rubin has advocated for fiscal discipline and public investment, and worked to turn the federal budget deficit to a surplus while Treasury Secretary. He has advocated against high budget deficits and has been credited with developing the

strong dollar policy Strong dollar policy is United States economic policy based on the assumption that a "strong" exchange rate of the United States dollar (meaning it takes fewer dollars to purchase the same amount of another currency) is in the interests of the Un ...

that has been a cornerstone of U.S. economic policy since his tenure at Treasury. He has been described as a centrist, pro-business, "pro-growth Democrat" by ''The New York Times''. The ''Chicago Tribune'' and

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

have stated that Rubin's policies as Treasury Secretary helped drive American economic growth in the 1990s. However, his policies have also been criticized by some Republicans for not cutting taxes enough, while some Democrats have said that Rubin's policies contributed to the

. Rubin has supported

progressive tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...

measures and expanding earned income tax credits to benefit low- and middle-income Americans. He has also opposed tax cuts that disproportionately benefit high earners, including those enacted during the administrations of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. During the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

, Rubin joined with four former Treasury secretaries to support the

Inflation Reduction Act The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is a United States federal law which aims to reduce the federal government budget deficit, lower prescription drug prices, and invest in domestic energy production while promoting clean energy. It was ...

and supported a permanent refundable child tax credit with former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. In April 2016, he was one of eight former Treasury secretaries who called on the United Kingdom to remain a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

ahead of the June 2016 Referendum.

Climate change policies

Among Rubin's policy interests is

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. In 2014, Rubin served as a member of the U.S. Climate Risk Committee, which oversaw the development of an analysis of the economic risks of

climate change in the United States Climate change has led to the United States warming up by 2.6°F (1.4°C) since 1970.In 2023, the global average near-surface temperature reached 1.45 °C above pre-industrial levels, making it the warmest year on record. The climate of the Un ...

. In an address at the Climate Leadership Conference on March 4, 2015, Rubin spoke about the economic effects of climate change and the costs of inaction. Calling climate change "the existential threat of our age," he called for the adoption of three proposals—revising estimates of the

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

to reflect climate change externalities, disclosure to investors by companies of the costs of carbon they emit that they might be required to absorb, and including in the U.S. government's fiscal projections the future costs of dealing with climate change—to help catalyze a more active response to climate change risks. He first outlined these proposals in a ''Washington Post'' op-ed column titled "How Ignoring Climate Change Could Sink the U.S. Economy." In 2016, former Treasury secretaries Rubin,

Henry Paulson Henry "Hank" Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American investment banker and financier who served as the 74th United States secretary of the treasury from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson ...

, and

George Shultz George Pratt Shultz ( ; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held f ...

, members of the climate research group the Risky Business Project, penned a letter to the

United States Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its ...

, urging regulators to manage financial disclosures regarding climate change.

Personal life

Rubin and his wife, Judith O. Rubin, have two grown sons together, James Rubin (not to be confused with James Phillip Rubin), and Philip Rubin. The Rubins were long time members of Temple Beth Sholom on Miami Beach.

References

Sources

The White House - Office of the Press Secretary

External links

Robert Rubin official siteProfile
at

* * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Robert Chairs of the Council on Foreign Relations 1938 births 20th-century American politicians Alumni of the London School of Economics Jewish American bankers American bankers American chief executives American chief operating officers Businesspeople from New York City Chairmen of Goldman Sachs Citigroup people Clinton administration cabinet members Harvard Law School alumni Harvard College alumni Living people Jewish members of the Cabinet of the United States Presidential Citizens Medal recipients United States secretaries of the treasury Yale Law School alumni People associated with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Politicians from New York City