The truth about Larry Summers
In December 1991, while at the World Bank, Summers signed a memo written by staff economist Lant Pritchett, which was leaked. The memo apparently argued that free trade would not necessarily benefit the environment in developing countries. An aside to the memo, leaked to the press, sarcastically suggested that “I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that . . . I’ve always thought that under-populated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted.” [4]
I’m sure he ‘deeply regretted’ that the memo was leaked, but expressed little remorse for his deeds.
In an October 2001 meeting, Summers criticized African American Studies department head Cornel West for missing three weeks of classes to work on the Bill Bradley presidential campaign, and complained that West was contributing to grade inflation. Summers also said that West’s rap album was an embarrassment to the university, and that West needed to do more scholarly work. West denied the accusations.[13] West, who later called Summers both “uninformed” and “an unprincipled power player” in describing this encounter in his book Democracy Matters (2004), subsequently returned to Princeton University, where he taught prior to Harvard University.
Interesting.
According to Summers, the preponderance of males in high-end science and engineering positions could be explained by the following: first, that more men than women were willing to make the commitment in terms of time and flexibility demanded by high-powered jobs; second, and controversially, that there were differences in the intrinsic abilities of men and women at the extremes (3.5 to 4 standard deviations above the mean), as shown by higher variance in aptitude, abilities, or preferences relevant to science and engineering among men (see Gender differences); and third, that the discrepancy was due to discrimination or socialization.[14] He also stated his view that the order given reflected the relative importance of each of the three hypotheses.[14]
An attendee made Summers’ remarks public, and an intense response followed in the national news media and on Harvard’s campus.[15] Nancy Hopkins, a biologist at MIT, walked out during the talk in disgust.[15] It was claimed that Summers’ perceived sexism cost him the job of Treasury Secretary in Obama’s Administration.[16]
Oh he’s that president of Harvard, you know, the one who resigned after this debacle:
In an 18,000-word article in Institutional Investor (January, 2006), the magazine detailed [economist Andrei ]Shleifer’s alleged efforts to use his inside knowledge of and sway over the Russian economy in order to make lucrative personal investments, all while leading a Harvard group, advising the Russian government, that was under contract with the U.S. The article suggests that Summers shielded his fellow economist from disciplinary action by the University.[21] Summers’ friendship with Shleifer was well known by the Corporation when it selected him to succeed Rudenstine and Summers recused himself from all proceedings with Shleifer, whose case was actually handled by an independent committee led by Derek Bok.
And I’m not alone in wondering why this guy is in charge of anything:
In January 2009, as the Obama Administration tried to pass an economic stimulus spending bill, Oregon Democratic Representative Peter DeFazio criticized Summers, saying that he thought that President Barack Obama is “ill-advised by Larry Summers. Larry Summers hates infrastructure.” [28]. DeFazio, along with liberal economists including Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, has argued that more of the stimulus should be spent on infrastructure,[29] while Summers has supported tax cuts.[citation needed]
So he [allegedly, citation needed] supports tax cuts, which, as I’ve detailed before, are coming out of straight DEBT.
Tags: bitch bitch bitch, celebrate good obama c'mon!, yes this is really how I amuse myself
This entry was posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 12:21.
