As our Gabe Sherman writes in this week’s profile of former White House budget director Peter Orszag, “The close alliance among Wall Street and … the West Wing of the White House is the military-industrial complex of our time.” Orszag — now a vice-chairman in Citigroup’s global banking division — is but one of many White House staffers to step into the revolving door from Washington to Wall Street. Today on Morning Joe, Sherman points out that the close-knit relationship between D.C. and Wall Street can feel just plain icky to many Americans, especially during a recession caused partly by a banking collapse. “Peter’s move to Citi really touched off this debate,” Sherman says. “Should policy-makers, when they leave the administration, immediately take high-level jobs in finance?” Well, should they?
