The Crimson’s Wet Kiss
Posted on April 8th, 2011 in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
The Crimson gets 15 questions with Larry Summers. It could talk to him about Harvard’s investments during his tenure as president, about Inside Job, about changes to the Corporation, about his Wall Street buckraking and the White House’s cozy relationship with Wall Street, about Christie Roemer…about so much, really.
Instead, the Crimson asks him how he feels about Drew Faust’s redecoration of his Mass Hall office. (Answer: “I’m sure Drew has done a great job with that.”)
Granted, Summers may have insisted upon some ground rules before giving the interview. (On the other hand, he may not have. And if he did, the Crimson should either have said no, or disclosed them.)
But still…come on, people. Your hero worship is showing.
4 Responses
4/8/2024 1:15 pm
“LHS: I had a couple of very happy years before I went into government. I was mostly involved in thinking about what was the gathering financial crisis and appropriate policy responses to it. ”
Amazing. Does he actually believe this or think anybody who can read would? This one’s pretty hilarious too:
“I’ve never been primarily motivated by income, though as many professors do, I’m sure I will do some consulting going forward.”
4/8/2024 1:37 pm
Two questions spring to mind: If LHS was really thinking about the gathering financial crisis, is that what he spoke about before all the banks who paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars? Did he warn them that they were jeopardizing the existence of their banks through leverage and sub-prime mortgages? Because there’s certainly no record of that.
Also: If LHS has never been primarily motivated by income…what is his primary motivation?
I don’t mean to be snarky on that one, I’m genuinely curious. Perhaps it’s to use his economic thinking to solve public policy problems and better people’s lives—but given the events of the past three years, it’s very difficult to not think that the sources of Summers’ income didn’t shape his economic thinking and policymaking.
4/9/2024 11:21 am
Summers’ actions appear to be fully consistent with Harvard’s culture, as no one has raised about his actions the same questions that have been raised about Michael Porter’s:
http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-06/news/29389347_1_arts-and-sciences-faculty-professor-harvard-officials
Shouldn’t those interested in the moral ethos at Harvard question the moral similarity of those actions?
4/10/2024 7:13 pm
The real wet kiss is the kiss of debt that is sinking the nation… thanks Larry Summers.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9852ec86-620d-11e0-8ee4-00144feab49a.html#axzz1JAWw5Jg2