Larry Di Rita, former aide to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and current spokesperson for Bank of America, joined HuffPost Live in Davos Friday to discuss the role banks can play in the fight against income inequality.
"The greatest jobs creator in the history of the world is economic growth," Di Rita said. "Where economic growth happens, jobs follow. And where jobs follow, income's rise and there's prosperity."
"What we can do and other financial services companies [can do] to spur economic growth [is] to lend and invest." He continued. "[That] should ultimately lead to job creation, and job creation is the ultimate antidote to income inequality. We very much see that as an important objective."
Some of the bank's other recent charitable activities could have a positive effect as well, Di Rita said. To just take one example, Bank of America recently teamed up with with Bono and and AIDS charity (RED).
"We've made a $10 million arrangement with (RED) for the Global Fund involving a song that will premiere in an ad during the Super Bowl and when the ad runs people will have 24 hours to download the song," he said. "For every download we'll contribute a dollar to (RED), up to $2 million."
That kind of engagement is just what the bank's customers are looking for, Di Rita said.
"People want to be involved, including through the financial services companies they associate with, with things that we support, things that they believe in and things that make them feel better about the companies they do business with."