Remember the good old days when he admitted he knew nothing about economics?

For anyone that missed it, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson spent this morning outlining the federal goverment’s response to the ongoing financial sector collapse.

The experience of watching Paulson say how better regulation is the key was rather like watching plumbers, who have spent the last ten years smashing at your boiler with a crowbar, stand aside as their boss suddenly tells you what it needed in the first place was just a new thermostat. And all the while, his friends have been quietly stripping all the copper pipes out of your house and selling them for scrap.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain (who, let no-one forget, had his economic policies written by arch-deregulator Phil “Nation of Whiners” Gramm) has been getting into hot water for claiming that if HE were president then HE would have sacked Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, which would be fine apart from the fact that the president can’t fire independent regulatory commissioners. Because they’re independent.

This article appears in September 19 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.