Rubin Leaves a Richer Nation

With the impeccable timing he displayed throughout much of his four-year tenure, Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin stepped down Wednesday amid a blizzard of accolades, mostly deserved. Perhaps his greatest single accomplishment is that he resisted both the Democrats’ spending and Republicans’ tax-cutting impulses, helping to produce the first budget surplus since 1969. His steady hand at the nation’s till has helped lead the United States into a ninth year of economic prosperity. All that Lawrence H. Summers, Rubin’s deputy and alter ego, who is certain to become the next Treasury secretary, needs to do is follow a well-carved path. Rubin has bequeathed him a robust economy and enough time to make himself a track record before a new administration comes in.

Rubin was a successful 26-year veteran of Wall Street before he joined President Clinton’s team as the White House economic advisor. In 1995 he became Treasury secretary.

Rubin brought to the government the views of those who stood to gain or lose the most from decisions made in Washington, the investors. The markets responded enthusiastically. The dollar has remained rock-solid and the Dow Jones industrial average, the leading indicator of share prices, has risen 180% since 1995. On Rubin’s watch, more wealth has been created in the United States and more people have benefited from economic growth than ever before.

Rubin was never comfortable in Washington and had little patience with party politics. When the Mexican peso collapsed in 1995, he staged an end run around a divided Congress to pump emergency funds under his control into the Mexican treasury to prevent a government default. A gutsy move, but one that paid off handsomely. And when world financial markets plummeted last August, he once again stepped forward to lead a response.

Rubin will also be leaving behind a Congress ready to scuttle his fiscal discipline with outlandish tax cuts and new spending plans. Summers’ first challenge will be to prevent Congress and the administration--both of which have an eye riveted on the next election--from busting the budget with campaign-spawned tax cuts and spending.

Rubin, though more a tactician than a master strategist, more able to respond to crises than prevent them, will leave a lasting positive mark on the economy, not only in the United States but throughout much of the world.