Across the street from the White House, a paean has opened to the ultimate 1980s throwback: the celebration of capitalism.
Behold! The Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, a gleaming, privately funded museum partly curated and controlled by Michael R. Milken, the once-jailed bond financier pardoned by President Trump. It focuses the story of the nation around bankers, lenders and Mr. Milken himself.
The invention of the telegraph? It was notable for the “backing of investors,” an exhibit reads.
The success of Howard University, the Black collegiate powerhouse? Important to remember that Bank of America’s predecessor lent it money.
How about the Civil War? In this museum, it is name-checked briefly, for having brought about the greenback, or federal paper money.
A sign in one gallery reads, “Finance as a Force for Good.”
That’s a curious — or necessary, its boosters argue — take when polls show that barely half of Americans hold a positive view on capitalism.
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The post On Pennsylvania Ave., Michael Milken’s Curious Temple to the American Dream appeared first on New York Times.
