While everyone skewers Home Depot founder Ken Langone for comparing populist policies to Nazi Germany, let’s not overlook another priceless quote that appeared in today’s story on the super-rich by Politico’s Ben White and Maggie Haberman.
Nestled at the bottom of the story, we hear from an unnamed “top industry executive” who breathes a sigh of relief for the events in Ukraine and expresses gratitude to Vladimir Putin.
On the national level, the shift away from a focus on income inequality and reining in Wall Street stems both from the economy, which is slowly improving, and the dominant issue of the day, which is now the crisis in Ukraine.
The aggressive actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin have eased the anxieties of Wall Streeters sick of being portrayed as the enemy. “We obviously see other things driving the news cycle,” a top industry executive said. “Ukraine keeps the focus off the evil 1 percent, so I guess we have Putin to thank for that. The improving economy helps as well.”
