Bette Midler (Yeah, the Singer!) Goes Up Against WaPo Fed Reporter on Larry Summers and Wins!

Bette Midler: You are the wind beneath
my contempt for Larry Summers.

This was flagged by blogger Atrios and analyzed by economist Dean Baker, but it's too sweet not to share with my readers. Singer/actor (and apparent financial wiz) Bette Midler Twitter-debated WaPo Fed reporter Neil Irwin on Larry Summers -- Obama's misguided possible first choice to replace Fed chair Ben Bernanke -- and crushes him:

Ms Midler led off with the tweet:

"HUH. The architect of bank deregulation, which turned straitlaced banks into casinos and bankers into pimps, may be next Head Fed: Summers."

Irwin took issue with this by pointing out that the Clinton administration, as well as the Bush administration, were filled with proponents of deregulation. This would be people like Robert Rubin, Alan Greenspan and Timothy Geithner. Based on this background Irwin doesn't think it's fair to call Summers "the architect of bank deregulation." 

Neil Irwin, do you wanna dance?
No, not with Bette Midler...

We at Beat the Press have to call this one mostly for Midler. After all, Summers is known financial luddite for raising the possibility that deregulation might lead to instability in the financial system at the Fed's big Greenspanfest in 2005.
to be a forceful character, not just a shrinking violet who sits in the corner of the room. Regulation fans everywhere remember how Summers denounced Raghuram Rajan  as a financial luddite for raising the possibility that deregulation might lead to instability in the financial system at the Fed's big Greenspanfest in 2005.

Summers was a big actor in pushing the deregulation agenda. He deserves credit for his work. If we change Midler's tweet to read, "an architect of bank deregulation," she is 100 percent on the mark.

Baker continues with the refereeing, with Midler wiping the floor with Irwin. Read the whole thing to enjoy all the fun.

As for me, I'm for Janet Yellen, Fed-wise.