Hank Paulson Bursts Out Laughing ‘We made income inequality wider!’

Back in April, Hank Paulson (who served as the treasury secretary under President Bush) and Robert Rubin sat down with Sheryl Sandberg and Tim Geithner at an event hosted by Michael Milken (no less), to discuss a variety of topics. Around a half hour into the discussion, Sandberg asks Paulson about income inequality. Here’s what happens next:

Sandberg: “Yeah, so let’s follow up on a bunch of the things we were [talking about]. Let’s start with income inequality.”

Paulson: “Ok, well.. income inequality. I think this is something we’ve all thought about. You know I was working on that topic when I was still at Goldman Sachs..”

Rubin: “In which direction? You were working on increasing it.”

Paulson then bursts out laughing: “Yeah! We were making it wider!”

[If the video clip doesn’t work for you, find the original at the Zerohedge link below.]

Unbelievable!

Needless to say, in the post-crisis world where the ultra rich fork over $180 million for paintings while everyday Americans struggle even to afford rent in a one-bedroom apartment, this subject is far from funny.

Go read more from Zerohedge on this.

You can get some context on Hank Paulson in this flashback from 2008: