For what it's worth

Compared to Robert Rubin we are all Financial Gurus
Robert Rubin
26 years with Goldman Sachs
Treasury Secretary of the United States
Citibank "employee"

Robert Rubin was instrumental in laying the foundation of the current financial crisis. As a major player in the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act and more recently an architect of Citi's disastrous Business Plan which would have put them in bankruptcy had the government not stepped in to bail the bank out, his legacy is a horrific one.

For many years, I respected and admired Rubin, as did many others in the world. He screwed up worse than all of us combined could ever could have!

With a world class financial education and impressive resume, over the years, using his BEST judgments, he has had CONTROL and INFLUENCE over massive amounts of money held in the hands of individuals, corporations and NATIONS! His ultimate judgments were DEAD WRONG. Rubin has been an unintentional principal KILLER of our Financial System! Now he claims that he did NOT foresee the CREDIT CRISES ( the one he helped create.)

If Robert Rubin's decision making can be so wrong and cause so much financial damage, how harsh should we be on ourselves for not avoiding the the financial crisis that is now in progress? If you are like me you have asked yourself why wasn't I smart enough to have .......and why didn't I listen to the voice inside my head that said this real estate, credit and stock market boom just can't go on etc etc etc.

I, nor you have caused millions of families to suffer the possibility of losing their homes their jobs and their self respect. None of us have weakened the very foundation of our Financial System by our management of our own financial affairs. Robert Rubin is not the worst of the lot that got the country and the world into the mess it is in now. That is the HORROR of this story! My suggestion is to be kind to yourself. We, as individuals should not punish ourselves for not being able to foresee and safely navigate through all the pit falls that were put in place by the powers that be. None of us had a real chance to be wise...some of us got lucky and were not harmed. Congratulations to you if you are in that camp. An overwhelming majority of good, hard working, honest, well intentioned, family oriented, decent citizens have been shattered or severely damaged financially by the recent economic crisis. It was NOT their fault and is not fair. It is too late for many to ever recover and will take a decade or more for others to come back to where they were a couple of years ago. It is all very sad!