Corporate Predator Carl Icahn Threatens More Job-Killing Deregulatory Disasters
Dec. 21, 2016
Corporate Predator Carl Icahn Threatens More Job-Killing Deregulatory Disasters
Statement of Robert Weissman, President, Public Citizen
Note: President-elect Donald Trump has picked billionaire investor Carl Icahn to be special adviser on regulatory affairs. According to press reports, he will be advising the president in his individual capacity and will not be serving as a federal employee.
Donald Trump has selected a man who epitomizes predatory corporate capitalism to lead his deregulatory charge. In accepting the designation, Icahn cites fanciful and false claims about the cost of regulation, while failing to acknowledge regulatory benefits, which include preventing consumer rip-offs, protecting the air and water, making our food and water safer, and much more.
It’s precious to hear talk about protecting jobs from the corporate raider famous for actions that cost thousands of workers their jobs.
If Carl Icahn is going to advise Trump on regulation, he would do well to revisit how Wall Street deregulation led directly to the 2008 financial crash and the Great Recession. These are facts he must know well from personal experience, and which show how regulation is vital to limit corporate abuses, ensure financial stability and preserve jobs.
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