Talk:Robert Rubin

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The WP:COIRESPONSE . WWB Too (talk · contribs) has been paid by Beutler Ink on behalf of Robert Rubin (via TSD Communications).

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This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Hello again, I'd like to make a suggestion for the newly-established Policy views section of the article. At present, the existing paragraphs largely discuss letters he has joined and speeches he has given; I think the reader's understanding of Mr. Rubin's policy perspectives would benefit from including a general overview of the stances that informed his time in government, plus a more recent action taken alongside other past Treasury secretaries.

Here is a rendered version of how it would look in the entry—just following the header, and preceding the paragraph about the 2014 climate change letter—and please note, the "empty" cite is a named ref already present in the current article:

Inside the box below is the markup itself, for convenience. It includes just what I recommend adding, not including the header or start of the next graf:

As always, due to my COI with the subject, I won't make any direct edits to the article. I welcome any uninvolved editor to consider it, and also @Spencer:: I welcome your review, if you have time. Thanks, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 14:50, 20 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done for now: Looks mostly good, but Source 4 is missing. Could you provide that please? Actualcpscm (talk) 22:36, 20 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Actualcpscm: I noted above that the citation isn't missing—"the 'empty' cite is a named ref already present in the current article". For convenience, a link to its usage in the live article is here. Hope you'll take another look. Best, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 00:03, 21 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi WWB_Too, while the information provided is suitable for inclusion in the article, my concern is that there is not appropriate depth, such as by mentioning criticism of Rubin's policy positions. For example, this WSJ article highlights some of these criticisms, and being Centrist in some policies, I think it would be appropriate to highlight how he received criticism from both sides of the political aisle. I realize some of these are mentioned elsewhere in the article, but for example, where the proposed changes above mention tax cuts, the WSJ article highlights how Republicans criticized Rubin for not going far enough with proposed tax cuts, and could potentially be included there. Another reference that could be used, from the New York Times: [1]. I realize that equal validity can create false balance, but I believe that in this case, some additional depth with commentary related to these policy positions would be important. Spencer^T•C 20:34, 21 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Spencer, thanks for the feedback, I appreciate the thoughtful reply. If you don't mind, I'll take some time to think on this. Best, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 19:04, 22 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Spencer, thanks for your patience. I'm back today with an addition that I think captures the intent of your feedback. Below, I've highlighted the added content so it's easy to identify:

Policy views Rubin is an advocate for fiscal discipline and public investment, and worked to turn the federal budget deficit to a surplus while Treasury Secretary.[1] Rubin has advocated against high budget deficits and has been credited with developing the strong dollar policy that has been a cornerstone of U.S. economic policy since his tenure at Treasury.[2][3] He has been described as a centrist, pro-business, "pro-growth Democrat" by The New York Times.[4] His policies as Treasury Secretary have been credited with driving American economic growth in the 1990s.[5] However, they have also been criticized by some Republicans for not cutting taxes enough while some Democrats said Rubin's policies contributed to the 2008 financial crisis.[6] Rubin has supported progressive tax measures and expanding earned income tax credits to benefit low- and middle-income Americans.[5] He has also opposed tax cuts that disproportionately benefit high earners, including those enacted during the administrations of George W. Bush and Donald Trump.[7][8][9] During the Jacob Lew.[10][11] In April 2016, Rubin was one of eight former Treasury secretaries who called on the United Kingdom to remain a member of the European Union ahead of the June 2016 Referendum.[12] References ^ Loomis, Carol J. (March 13, 2016). "The Larger-Than-Life Life of Robert Rubin". Fortune. Retrieved August 31, 2020. ^ Wolk, Martin (January 13, 2004). "Rubin warns of a deficit's ripples". NBC News. Retrieved February 6, 2023. ^ Wroughton, Lesley; Lange, Jason (January 24, 2018). "U.S. 'strong dollar' policy in question". Reuters. Retrieved August 31, 2020. ^ Greenhouse, Steven (July 25, 1993). "When Robert Rubin Talks…". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2023. ^ a b Thorndike, Joseph J. (December 1, 2014). "Robert Rubin: Stealth Liberal or Wall Street's Stalking Horse?". Tax Notes. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSJ-Demos-180608 was invoked but never defined (see the help page). CNN Money . Retrieved August 31, 2020. ^ "Two former Treasury chiefs wary of another stimulus". Bloomberg News. August 9, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2020. ^ Warner, Margaret (February 21, 2001). "Tax cuts: Robert Rubin". PBS Newshour. Retrieved February 6, 2023. ^ Lawder, David (August 3, 2022). "Former U.S. Treasury secretaries back drugs, climate, tax bill". Reuters. Retrieved February 6, 2023. ^ Konish, Lorie (May 5, 2022). "Democrats are pushing to renew the expanded child tax credit. Here's why that hasn't happened yet". CNBC. Retrieved February 6, 2023. ^ "Staying in EU 'best hope' for UK's future say ex-US Treasury secretaries". BBC News. April 20, 2016.

I've put the markup in the collapsible box below for easy access.

Please let me know what you think and if you have any further questions. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 18:28, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I think this should be ready with one change: can you clarify who stated that his policies drove American economic growth in the 1990s? Spencer^T•C 01:40, 3 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for following up so soon, Spencer! And glad I'm close to the mark. In the current draft, the claim is made by the tax historian Joseph J. Thorndike, author of the Tax Notes column cited. That said, for such a large claim, it might be better still to cite reporting from national news sources than just a single columnist.

To that end, I've located articles in the Chicago Tribune (" Rubin, one of the chief architects of the 1990s Wall Street boom...") and the Associated Press as published by The Washington Post ("Rubin, credited with many of the policies that have spurred a lasting boom in the U.S. economy..."). I assume in this case we'd remove this usage of Tax Notes.

A better sentence might read something like: Rubin's policies as Treasury Secretary have been credited by the Chicago Tribune and Associated Press with driving American economic growth in the 1990s.^[1][2]"

Markup here for easy access:

What do you think of that? WWB Too (Talk · COI) 19:19, 4 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

 Done I made some slight edits to remove the passive voice and combine some ideas into bigger paragraphs, but for the most part left as-is. I don't think the policies he implemented in the 1990s need further description in this section since they are described further up in the article. Spencer^T•C 02:42, 12 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Spencer, your changes make sense to me, and I appreciate the help. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 11:56, 15 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Greetings, I have a small edit request for this page. Mr. Rubin recently published a new book and launched a website. I am hoping someone will consider adding the website, robertrubin.com, to the infobox and External links section.

For the book, I suggest adding the following sentence to the Other work section, immediately after the mention of his first book, in the same paragraph:

Please let me know if there any questions. As always, I won't make any changes myself due to my conflict of interest. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 20:52, 18 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

These are both reasonable edits and should be part of the article. For style and clarity, I created a new “Books” subheading and added the language about the new book to it. I’ve closed the edit request as both requests have now been addressed. Go4thProsper (talk) 14:21, 26 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, Go4thProsper, I appreciate it! Best, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 10:59, 30 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Go4thProsper: Re-opening this, sort of, because I realized later using the Wikidata property for the URL might be preferred, and also it uses the HTTPS protocol, which definitely is. What do you think of replacing the existing URL with {{URL | {{Wikidata|property|Q370316|P856}} }}? If that's too fussy, would you be willing to modify the HTTP to HTTPS? No rush, but curious what you think! WWB Too (Talk · COI) 13:37, 27 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Hello again, I've got a request to slightly expand on the Policy views section and change the order a bit to keep similar topics together.

To start, I'd like to suggest a new subheading within Policy views called Climate change, covering Rubin's views on the topic. There is already a fair bit of content in the section about this, more than any other policy area. Along with this change, I suggest moving the sentence about Brexit up prior to this subheading. I think that makes the separation between the topics clear.

I also have some suggestions for this new Climate change section: I recommend trimming some content related to the risk committee and scaling back the name-dropping, while refocusing it on Mr. Rubin's views, in keeping with the purpose of the overall section. Lastly, I'd suggest adding a few sentences about the Risky Business Project, another of Mr. Rubin's efforts related to climate change. As Spencer has suggested in the past, I've put these more complex changes into a table below to help make these changes more easily understood.

(Note: the empty ref is the Demos WSJ story, already rendered in the live article.)

For convenience, I've put the markup below for the proposed Climate change section (not including the subhead) in this box:

Please let me know what you think. As always, I'm open to further discussion on these suggested changes and won't make them myself due to my conflict of interest. Any feedback is appreciated. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 16:06, 6 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

 Done Edits seem reasonable, and the middle section keeps the current content largely intact. Spencer^T•C 04:38, 7 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! And your addition of the Economic policies subhead makes sense to me; I wish I'd thought of it. Best, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 11:05, 9 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Hello again, I have a small request not pertaining to the article text, but it use of images. For an article of this length, there are not many. One that would be appropriate is File:Portrait of Robert Rubin.jpg. I think it would be a good addition to the Secretary of the Treasury section since it is from his time in that role. Only thing is, this will place it rather close to the existing 1999 photo, so I'd recommend moving that one down to the Balanced budget agreement section. Given my financial COI, I think it best that I not make any edits to the page. My hope is that another editor will review the request and, if they agree, implement these changes. Thanks, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 12:24, 23 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Reply 1-JUL-2023

  Edit request implemented    Spintendo  20:33, 1 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Spintendo: Thanks for doing that. I realized that the image doesn't have a caption, what do you think of something simple like this: "Robert Rubin official Treasury portrait, 1999"? WWB Too (Talk · COI) 22:12, 11 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Spencer: wondering if you have a moment to consider this request? I was hoping the prior editor would take it up, but it doesn't seem like they're coming back. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 16:49, 19 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

 Done As always, you can re-add {{request edit}} to reopen the request for review, which will help other editors see it quicker. Spencer^T•C 20:52, 24 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Much appreciated! WWB Too (Talk · COI) 12:45, 25 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

The current URL for robertrubin.com in the infobox is given as HTTP, not HTTPS, which I now realize is the preferred protocol. One way to do this (which I think would also be good Wikimedia hygiene) is replacing the existing URL with {{URL | {{Wikidata|property|Q370316|P856}} }}. Alternatively, it might just be easier to change HTTP to HTTPS. Also, his website is not currently listed under External links, so I'd appreciate it if it could be added there as well. Given my financial COI, I'll refrain from making any direct edits, and I'm hopeful another editor will take up these suggestions. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 18:06, 9 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

 Done. What does the alternately proposed property|Q thing do anyways if it was to be done that ways? Graywalls (talk) 19:17, 9 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Graywalls! Had you used the code, it would have tied that field to Wikidata. So if it was ever changed in Wikidata, the field would update automatically. Best, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 19:52, 9 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Hello again to all who watch this page; I have some requests for some minor updates to the article.

First, Mr. Rubin's book The Yellow Pad was included on Bloomberg's "Best Books of 2023" list. I think that is noteworthy enough for inclusion in the Books section, such as a new final sentence like:

• The book was named one of the "Best Books of 2023" by Bloomberg News.^[1]

Second, I was hoping to update some "as of" dates to reflect Mr. Rubin's continuing activities, both in the introduction and in the Other work section. Specifically, updating the latest year Mr. Rubin has been active with the Hamilton Project, Council on Foreign Relations, and Centerview Partners to 2024. I must note, there is no third-party sourcing saying he is still doing these things in 2024, but my thinking is this: the "as of" date for the Hamilton Project is already supported in part by a citation to the organization's website, so I believe this could work for the other two and, by updating the access date for Hamilton Project, perhaps then we could update the "as of" year? Like so:

• As of 2024, Rubin is involved in the Hamilton Project, an economic policy think tank he co-founded in 2006.^[2][3][4] He is co-chairman emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.^[5]

• Additionally, Rubin serves as a senior counselor at Centerview Partners, an investment banking advisory firm based in New York City.^[6][7]

And then with those updates made, this would also allow an update to the last sentence of the introduction, changing "As of 2022" to "As of 2024".

N.B. The WSJ source is already in the article, I just included the full citation here for visibility.

@Spencer: @Graywalls: @Go4thProsper: you have all fairly evaluated my edit requests here previously. Would one of you be able to take a look at this? WWB Too (Talk · COI) 16:04, 26 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Update: The Bloomberg book information has now been added. However, for anyone else coming across this, the question about updating the "as of" dates in the introduction and in Other work from 2002 to 2004 has not yet been discussed. I'm looking forward to hearing what some others think. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 14:25, 29 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done Encoded  Talk 💬 07:20, 3 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]