Los Angeles Times - 27.08.2019

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Obituary
writers have
been strug-
gling for
days with
the task of
balancing
the philan-
thropic
record of
billionaire David H. Koch
with his baleful influence on
democratic electoral princi-
ples and the science of cli-
mate change.
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology seems to have
found a solution to the
challenge. In its send-off to
Koch published Friday, the
day of his death, the uni-
versity went on at length
about his donations to MIT
in the fields of cancer re-
search, child care and even
basketball. Of his role in
suppressing the facts of
climate change, fighting
access to medical coverage
for low-income Americans
and undermining the ex-
pansion of renewable ener-
gy, MIT was completely,
utterly silent.
The university’s reluc-
tance to deliver an objective
assessment of Koch’s career
is perhaps understandable,
up to a point. Koch, like his
brother Charles, was an
MIT alumnus. He was a life
member of the MIT Corp.,
the institution’s board of
directors. His donations
exceeded $100 million. That
made him, in the universi-
ty’s words, “one of the most
important benefactors in
MIT’s modern history. ... At
any given moment around
MIT, beneficiaries of Koch’s
gifts included faculty with
endowed professorships,
students with fellowships he
supported — and toddlers
in the childcare center he
helped found.”
In other words, Koch was
deeply embedded within the
bosom of the MIT family.
Expecting MIT to speak ill
of him would be like expect-
ing a mother to talk about
her favorite child’s short-
comings. “Obituaries writ-
ten for MIT News are in-
tended to highlight a per-
son’s life at the Institute,” an
MIT spokeswoman told me
by email. “For Mr. Koch,
that included his time as a
student and his donations
to MIT for cancer research,

Koch’s

largess

bought

MIT’s

silence

MICHAEL HILTZIK

[SeeHiltzik,C3]

It would be

nice to think

that all

Americans

— Republi-

can and

Democrat,

conservative

and prog-

ressive —

were equally gobsmacked

when President Trump

used an international econ-

omic summit Monday as an

infomercial for his hotels.

Trump plugged his golf

resorts in Britain and Ire-

land while meeting with the

new British prime minister,

Boris Johnson. Then at a

post-summit news confer-

ence, he raised the idea of

holding next year’s G-

event, which the United

States is hosting, at his

Doral resort near Miami.

“It’s got tremendous

acreage, many hundreds of

acres, so we can handle

whatever happens,” Trump

said. “It’s really — people are

really liking it, plus it has

buildings that have 50 to 70

units. And so each dele-

gation can have its own

building.”

He added, “We haven’t

found anything that could

even come close to compet-

ing with it, really competing

with it, especially when you

look at the location being

right next to the airport.”

And the kicker: “I don’t

want to make money. I don’t

care about making money.

... It’s not about me. It’s

about getting the right

location.”

The silliness of that last

sentiment notwithstanding,

this got me thinking about

what the Founding Fathers

would make of such a bla-

tant commercial exploita-

tion of the presidency. Like

Trump, each of the Foun-

ding Fathers also was a

businessman.

Unlike Trump, they

never sought to personally

enrich themselves from

official acts.

Past presidents placed

their business and financial

interests in blind trusts, or

sold them off entirely.

Trump is having his sons

run his companies.

“There’s never been

anything like this,” said

Brian Murphy, an associate

professor of history at

A NEW

ETHICAL

LOW FOR

TRUMP

AT G-

DAVID LAZARUS

[SeeLazarus,C4]

Current and former cen-
tral bankers in Jackson
Hole, Wyo., weren’t sure if
Mark Carney’s idea for a vir-
tual reserve currency is the
answer, but they agree that
the dollar’s dominance is a
problem.
The Bank of England
governor used the Kansas
City Federal Reserve’s an-
nual symposium to set out a
radical goal: Invent a cur-
rency that is similar to Face-
book Inc.’s proposed Libra,

is based on several widely

used ones and would eventu-

ally replace the dollar’s role

in international trans-

actions.

Carney’s provocative

pitch over the weekend high-

lighted the simultaneous

struggle 5,000 miles away of

Group of 7 leaders in France,

who were trying to preserve

some semblance of the inter-

national order amid Presi-

dent Trump’s regular Twit-

ter outbursts.

Monetary policy makers

at the foot of Wyoming’s

Teton mountains spent Fri-

day and Saturday debating

how they can strengthen the

world economy, with in-

creasing doubts about how

much more they can do.

Adam Posen, a former

Bank of England policy-

maker, argued that there are

still fundamental political

Rethinking the

dollar’s global

domination

Radical idea at central

bankers’ summit

envisions a currency

similar to Facebook’s

Libra as new standard.

By Brian Swint
and Matthew Boesler

FED CHIEFJerome H. Powell, left, and Mark Carney talk Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Carney, governor of

the Bank of England, pitched a new currency that would replace the dollar’s role in international transactions.

Amber BaeslerAssociated Press

[SeeDollar,C4]

Hotel resort fees have drawn the

ire of attorneys general for Nebraska

and the District of Columbia as well

as travel rights groups because they

often aren’t disclosed upfront, mak-

ing travelers think they’re getting a

better deal than they really are.

Now, those fees that consumers

love to hate are getting pushback

from some online travel websites that

help book the hotels.

Booking.com, one of the world’s

largest online booking sites, has be-

gun charging a commission on resort

fees collected by hotels in Europe and

plans to make the change for U.S. ho-

tels in January. The website previ-

ously collected a commission only on

the nightly rate for every hotel room

that is booked through the site — a

practice shared by most online book-

ing sites.

The move comes only a month af-

ter attorneys general for the District

of Columbia and Nebraska filed law-

THE BELLAGIO, noted for its water show, is among several Las Vegas hotels that add nightly fees on

top of room rates. Booking.com says it will charge a commission on the fees to encourage transparency.

George RoseGetty Images

Travel website fights

hidden hotel charges

Booking.com says it’s bucking system to get full disclosure

ARIAResort & Casino in Las Vegas charges a $45 nightly resort

fee. Opponents of such fees say they obscure the true cost of a room.

John LocherAssociated Press

[SeeResort fees,C6]

By Hugo Martin