Henry Paulson

With less than 8 days to remain on his job as the States Secretary of Treasurer, Henry Paulson has been taking numerous exit interviews with the financial media, including one with Maria Bartiromo of CNBC.

 A star athlete at Barrington High School, Paulson was a champion wrestler and stand out football player, graduating in 1964. Paulson received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Dartmouth College in 1968. At Dartmouth  he was an All Ivy, All East, and honorable mention All American as an offensive lineman.

In 1970 Paulson received a Master of Business Administrationdegree from Harvard Business School. He joined Goldman Sachsin 1974.  In 1998 he succeeded Jon Corzine(now Governor of New Jersey) as its chief executive. His compensation package, according to reports, was US $37 million in 2005.His net worth has been estimated at over US $700 million.

Paulson was nominated by U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bushto succeed John Snowas the Treasury Secretary on May 30, 2006 and officially sworn in at a ceremony held at the Treasury Department on the morning of July 10, 2006.

When asked about if the US could afford  the massive bail out plan , Paulson ‘s answer has been consistent: “ We can not afford not to have a bail out plan.”

In plain English, the States Secretary is saying: “ I know the consequence is bad, but we do not have a choice.” 

Let’s assume that the bail out plan would be successful. Then I must start wondering: What is that “bad consequence” that everybody agrees on?