| − | Clinton refered to the Mexican [[bailout]] in his memoirs as, "one of the biggest crisis of my first term", and quotes Tom Friedman of the ''[[The New York Times]]'' saying it was the "least popular, least understood, most important foreign policy decision of the Clinton presidency."<ref>''My Life'', Bill Clinton, Knopf, 2004, pp. 641-645.</ref> It was the brainchild of Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin and chief economic adviser [[Larry Summers]] who later served President Barack Obama in the same position. Clinton claims it took him 10 minutes to decide on the $20 billion bailout. Polls showed 79% of the American people opposed it, with little support in Congress.{{Citation needed}} | + | Clinton refered to the Mexican [[bailout]] in his memoirs as, "one of the biggest crisis of my first term", and quotes Tom Friedman of the ''[[The New York Times]]'' saying it was the "least popular, least understood, most important foreign policy decision of the Clinton presidency."<ref>''My Life'', Bill Clinton, Knopf, 2004, pp. 641-645.</ref> It was the brainchild of Treasury Secretary [[Bob Rubin]] and chief economic adviser [[Larry Summers]] who later served President Barack Obama in the same position. Clinton claims it took him 10 minutes to decide on the $20 billion bailout. Polls showed 79% of the American people opposed it, with little support in Congress.{{Citation needed}} |
| | Critics cite the modern bailout culture of the [[Recession of 2008]] as originating with Clinton's Mexican bailout. It was allegedly designed to help Mexico using $20 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department's [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] by [[Executive Order]]. Congress did not authorize it. And it was done, not for the Mexican banks sake, but for the big [[Wall Street]] banks, Citibank, Bankers Trust, and others that were over-exposed to risk for bad loans they made in Mexico. PBS's [[Bill Moyers]] calls it "[[Crony capitalism]]", "and so the idea got started that Washington would be there with a prop, with a bailout, with a helping hand." <ref>[http://billmoyers.com/episode/crony-capitalism/ Crony Capitalism,] Moyers and Company, PBS, January 20, 2012.</ref> | | Critics cite the modern bailout culture of the [[Recession of 2008]] as originating with Clinton's Mexican bailout. It was allegedly designed to help Mexico using $20 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department's [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] by [[Executive Order]]. Congress did not authorize it. And it was done, not for the Mexican banks sake, but for the big [[Wall Street]] banks, Citibank, Bankers Trust, and others that were over-exposed to risk for bad loans they made in Mexico. PBS's [[Bill Moyers]] calls it "[[Crony capitalism]]", "and so the idea got started that Washington would be there with a prop, with a bailout, with a helping hand." <ref>[http://billmoyers.com/episode/crony-capitalism/ Crony Capitalism,] Moyers and Company, PBS, January 20, 2012.</ref> |