The Larry Summers hall of shame
This week’s announcement that Larry Summers will be stepping down as director of President Obama’s National Economic Council may have been most notable for the passionate reaction it prompted from his critics. "Good riddance," wrote the Progressive’s Matthew Rothschild, adding that "Summers has a resume of disaster."
The outpouring shouldn’t have been surprising. If nothing else, Summers, in his stints at Harvard, the World Bank and in two presidential administrations, has emerged as an accomplished lightning rod for controversy. As he prepares to decamp Washington for Harvard Yard — he’s going to be a professor — we remember the 10 most shameful moments that Larry has brought us.
10. Asking Chris Dodd to remove post-recession caps on executive pay: Summers ran into a bit of trouble after it leaked last year that he had received free rides on Citigroup’s corporate jet while working for the Obama White House — a major no-no. More appalling, however, was his subsequent decision to exempt Citigroup, a stimulus recipient, from caps on executive pay.
9. Gambling away $1 billion of Harvard’s money: Sure, it was unlucky that Summers’ stint as president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006 overlapped with the derivative craze of the mid-2000s, but he pushed to invest $3.5 billion in the complicated financial instruments — even though he knew the risks better than most. Only after Summers was fired did the market crash, taking $1 billion of Harvard’s money with it.
Photo courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
