Obama's Treasury Secretary: Larry Summers?

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***Updated 11/6***
Fortune has said that it believes Larry Summers to be President-Elect Obama's top choice for Secretary of Treasury, citing various reasons.

Fortune believes that former Treasury Secretary Lawrence (Larry) Summers is in the lead to get the job. Summers, who served in the Clinton Administration, wouldn't be a surprise pick. He along with other economic experts, ex-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, have advised Obama during the campaign, especially as the economic crisis unfolded. Volcker is said to be highly interested in the Treasury job, but Summers, with support from Rubin, has the inside track.

New York Magazine's Daily Intel blog has an interesting insight into the "competition" for the position between Summers and his "mentee" Time Geithner.

A scant two days after the election, the list of who might become Treasury Secretary has been whittled down by those who whittle such things to two people: Larry Summers, the former Harvard president who served as Treasury Secretary at the tail end of Clinton's term, and New York Federal Reserve president Tim Geithner. "They are both highly regarded," an Obama insider tells the New Republic's Noam Scheiber today. "Very highly regarded. Very, very highly regarded." They also have a past, dating back to 1993, when Summers was serving as the head of the Treasury's international arm and hired Geithner, a deferential 30-year-old whom Scheiber describes as a "svelte and baby-faced" "man-child" with "teen-idol locks and a boyish voice" as his "consigliere." "In Geithner," he writes, "Summers recognized the perfect complement."

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***Updated 10/31***

The American Prospect also lists Summers as a possible Treasury Secretary for Obama

In the Obama camp, there is similar attention paid to Lawrence Summers, who served under Bill Clinton as treasury secretary in the final year of his presidency, and held various important posts beforehand in the Treasury Department and as a World Bank economist. Summers is identified with the Rubinomics, deficit-hawk wing of the Democratic party -- which could be problematic given the financial crisis. But that hasn't stopped the former secretary -- Summers has been out front with a monthly Financial Times column about the importance of stimulus spending in a recession. His informal campaign has also included advising Obama and lending his name to economic statements put out by the campaign and congressional leadership, making him well positioned for a return to his old post.

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When discussing a possible Obama cabinet, former president of Harvard and Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has perhaps been the safest bet for those trying to predict an Obama cabinet. Most articles predicting such a cabinet put Summers back in his former position of Treasury Secretary.

New York magazine has just published an article saying that a Summers pick is extremely likely:

But although there has been chatter that Obama might also retain Hank Paulson at the Treasury, the inside betting is on a Larry Summers encore. "They're gonna want somebody who knows the building, knows the economy, has been confirmed before and been advising them on economics," says the former Clinton aide. "I'd be flabbergasted if they chose somebody else."

Summers also recently spoke out on the inequity of wealth in America, one of Obama's main campaign points:

"If the bottom 80 percent had kept pace and earned that $8,000 ... their income growth would have been twice as high over the last generation as what we in fact observed. Think about this number: $600 billion a year. It is immense compared to any discussion of changing the tax system here or there," Summers added.

Summers also warned about financial crisis from the global credit crunch almost a year ago, which should make him an easier sell to the American public.

Comments

[insubWomanATX]

edited actual email exchange for your feminist consideration.
See it in its entirety on my blog; http://insubordinatewomen.wordpress.com

Thanks for your kind note.

I think it is very concerning.
It's not just that Summers' comments about women were ignorant and that they constitute plain old bigotry.

Harvard came to a standstill under his leadership.
It simply ceased functioning, which is why he had to leave.

I don't know if you read the NY Times article about Sumers, Rubin and Greenspan and the current economic crisis?
They refused to listen to a woman who warned that the failure to regulate derivatives could bring down the markets.
They silenced her.
Same problem - refusal to listen to people who know important information that you may know.
Was it because she too was a woman?

To this day, Summers has never explained that his comments about women were incorrect scientifically, and why these comments ARE what bigotry is.
First he tried to cover them up.
What was needed was a head on facing of the facts and an explanation of what bigotry is:
namely, the belief that a group of people is genetically inferior in the absence of a shred of evidence to support that belief.


It's fine to have Summers as one of your economic advisors.
I'm all for that if he is such a good economist.
But he is clearly not suitable for a leadership position given his bad judgment and inability to listen.

All best,
Nancy Hopkins

[macsuibhne]

What's going on? Is the odious Larry Summers seriously being considered for a cabinet post in the new Obama adminstration? Yikes!

I voted for Mr. Obama because of the promise of a fairer society and a fresh start in government. I believed that Mr. Obama and his team would recognize and honor the power of the women's vote -- a bloc that showed its power and commitment dramatically during the primary campaign. I don't regret my vote for a millisecond, but I'm beginning to worry about some of the cabinet short-listers.

Larry Summers is a problem -- a BIG problem. His remarks about what he perceived to be differences in men's and women's innate abilities, delivered at the 2005 Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce, betrayed an alarming isolation from modern ideas and an ignorance of science. Do we really need this guy at Treasury ... or anywhere else in government? Is it really okay to retain outmoded and dangerous ideas about women in the service of "change?" Nope.

What we're seeing develop is a government with a healthy sprinkling of the "new old boys," including Larry Summers. This female voter strongly opposes the appointment of Summers to ANY post in the new government.

The irony is truly amazing ... Obama's surrogates suggested during the primary campaign that a vote for Hillary Clinton meant a vote for the return of Bill Clinton and his cronies. Looks like the new boss is same as the old boss.

[RocketmanBob]

The whole argument f the inequity of wealth increase over the lst 20 years is a specious one...

You see, in a non inflationary period, wages generally keep pace with inflation; in other words they increased about as much as the inflation rate did year over year. But, the stock market has traditionally out-performed the inflation rate.

So it's easy to see that higher paid folks, who could afford to take risks and be involved in the market, stood a greater chance of increasing their wealth more quickly than those who simply worked for wages tat were paid by others...

It's simple, and not unfair one bit...

Best Wishes

[Caliwoman]

Dear President Elect Obama,

Larry Summers said women can't do math and that toxic waste should be stored in the third world, since folks there had short life expectancies anyhow. While Summers was head of the World Bank, I saw first hand the failure and corruption of his aid packages that increases exploitation and land theft from third world farmers, supported corrupt regimes and corrupt first world contractors, and furthered the impoverishment of people and the environmental ruin of their communities. At the time I consulted with human rights and international development organizations. How can you take such a racist and misogynistic man like Larry Summers seriously and offer him the dignity of space on your President elect advisory committee on the economy? As a Ph.D. and former academic on international development, I see nothing but failure from Summer's deceitful policies and practices.

As a woman who now makes a living "doing the numbers", a successful financial advisor specializing in socially responsible investing, I am appalled at Summer's comments on women's mathematical abilities. How would you feel if he said black men can't do math? How would you feel if he rationalized dumping toxic waste on South Chicago for that matter? My husband, a math professor and former university dean, is equally offended by Summers and your placing him on your committee.

[Caliwoman]

Do posts ever get posted here? Its been thirty minutes, come on! Hello?

[Caliwoman]

Larry Summers said women can't do math and that toxic waste should be stored in the third world, since folks there had short life expectancies anyhow. While Summers was head of the World Bank, I saw first hand the failure and corruption of his aid packages that increases exploitation and land theft from third world farmers, supported corrupt regimes and corrupt first world contractors, and furthered the impoverishment of people and the environmental ruin of their communities. At the time I consulted with human rights and international development organizations. How can you take such a racist and misogynistic man like Larry Summers seriously and offer him the dignity of space on your President elect advisory committee on the economy? As a Ph.D. and former academic on international development, I see nothing but failure from Summer's deceitful policies and practices.

As a woman who now makes a living "doing the numbers", a successful financial advisor specializing in socially responsible investing, I am appalled at Summer's comments on women's mathematical abilities. How would you feel if he said black men can't do math? How would you feel if he rationalized dumping toxic waste on South Chicago for that matter? My husband, a math professor and former university dean, is equally offended by Summers and your placing him on your committee.

We invested $1500 in the campaign. We did not do it so you could allow Summer's irrational, top down, discriminatory world view to receive legitimacy on your advisory group.

[tbone99]

Lawrence Summers, is closely linked to former Fed Chairman (and current Public Enemy No.#1.- ALAN GREENSPAN to be a wise choice. Plus, the hash Summers made out of Harvard's presidency suggested that even after holding one of the highest positions in government, Summers still was pretty clueless about getting along with other people—a crucial skill for whoever ends up managing the worst financial panic since the Great Depression.

Greenspan and his cohorts have brought the country to their news. Enough already with them!

[harvardguy72]

Summers is a very bad candidate for Obama's cabinet!! Not only did the Harvard fiasco reveal his sexism (what a slap in the face to the many women who supported Barack, both in the primaries and in the general election) but also his abysmal leadership skills. Had he not been so arrogant, so unable to communicate to the lowly faculty, they never would have kicked him out. Instead, he had burned his bridges long before the whole sexist issue broke out.

What about his attitude toward African-American scholars? He basically declared war on the whole African-American studies program at Harvard--a group of the most respected black intellectuals in the nation. He treated them with public disrespect, and drove many of them to other universities. How is this a good kind of guy for an Obama team?

What about effectiveness? Bob Rubin was an effective Treasury Secretary, but when Summers succeeded him he proved to be a loser. Obama will need someone who understands the markets and can communicate with Wall Street and with Congress. When Summers tries to communicate he just makes enemies because he is so arrogant. Obama does not need enemies, he needs to get people enthusiastic about working with him.

[sempronia]

i'm not so excited about larry summers. however, just for kicks, i wanted to share a story i heard about him. one of my best friends from high school started at harvard when summers was first starting there. as part of the new orientation festivities, there was a freshman mixer, and surprisingly enough, the new president showed up. my friend and some people were standing around and not sure how to interact with him, and finally one of the girls went up to summers and asked him to dance. he said yes. right at the moment the girl and summers went out to the dance floor, nelly's "it's getting hot in here" started playing. and if i remember correctly, summers then proceeded to remove his tie...

so i while i was sorry that he said such stupid things and think there are better choices for treasury, i have to say that i'll always have an affection for him thanks to that story.

[annaix]

I am hopeful about the next four years, but I will be so disappointed if Summers has a role in Obama's administration. There was the whole debacle at Harvard (Summers basically saying that maybe the reason there fewer women in math and science is that they innately have less ability in those fields)--you know, the same biological determinism argument that has been used to justify slavery and denying women the vote... Then there was Summers' little "thought experiment" advocating movement of polluting industries to Africa and other developing countries. Maybe it wasn't serious, but it was in very poor taste. The man has a severe case of foot-and-mouth disease and I don't want him back in the vicinity of the White House.

[ethel08]

It wasn't just Summer's questionable statements about women and science; he was a bad administrator. I'm surprised that the Obama team wants to bring on Clinton folks, especially for the economy. While I reject the right-wing's and MSM's claims that the economic crisis was all Clinton's fault, it is clear that his attempts to compromise through economic policies did contribute to what we're experiencing now.

[gafrin]

Yes that incident at Harvard was outrageous. Note also that during the Clinton years Larry Summers wrote a memo stating that toxic waste should be dumped in Africa. There are better choices out there.


Gloria

[dobedo]

Larry Summers had to resign as president of Harvard because of his views on women. If that Harvard faculty found his views that repugnant, imagine how all of the women who just voted for Obama are likely to feel if he is Obama's first cabinet appointment.