Against Larry Summers, the Friedmanite

The lack of candor was a reference to Summers' dealings with Andrei Shleifer, a close friend of Summers who cost Harvard a $26 million settlement with the U.S. government. Shleifer violated conflict-of-interest rules by making secret investments in Russia at the same time he was working for a Harvard group contracted by the U.S. Government to advise the Russian government. In 2004 a federal court found Shleifer liable for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Government. While Shleifer was being investigated, Summers was pushing to have Shleifer promoted to a prominent chair at Harvard.

The problem isn't just that Summers' buddies are corrupt; the problem is that Summers deceived people about this issue, causing many of his conservative allies at Harvard to abandon him. Summers knew his buddy was investing in Russia, and knew that it might be illegal, and even warned him in 1996. But Summers, even though he was working for the Treasury Department, didn't nothing to stop Shleifer's criminal activities and insider dealing.

At Harvard, Summers was “a blunt and overbearing figure with an overt agenda of drastic change.”

When he was asked about the value of affirmative action by a faculty member, Summers responded, “The jury's out.” When a female law professor at a meeting asked Summers a question he didn't like, he responded, "That's a stupid question.” One professor “denounced Summers as 'a control freak' and mocked Summers's hierarchical 'Washington' style. 'He doesn't give a damn what anybody thinks.'”

Summers' life had taken a decidedly rightward turn, even to the level of dating Laura Ingraham in 2001. Summers took a further turn to the right after 9-11, when “Summers says that he felt called to speak up for patriotic values.”

Summers also adopted far-right stands on Israel, and harshly denounced anyone who urged that universities disinvest from Israel were “anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent.” Accusing critics of Israel of anti-Semitism is the lowest form of intellectual sleaze from the far right.

Summers showed a disturbing disregard for academic freedom. In 2002, Summers was responsible for helping cancel a poetry reading on campus by Tom Paulin because Paulin had denounced Jewish settlers as “Nazis, racists” and suggested they should be “shot dead.” Although Paulin apologized for the remarks, Summers consulted with the English Department and then praised its decision to cancel the reading. (The cancellation was denounced by Charles Fried, Summers' friend Alan Dershowitz, and Laurence Tribe, showing how both conservatives and liberals were appalled by the idea.)

Summers also pushed out famed professor Cornel West, meeting with him to criticize him for recording a rap album and being involved in supporting Bill Bradley's political campaign. A president of a university has no business ordering a professor (or anyone else) to stop participating in political campaigns. It is a clear violation of academic freedom to do so. West called Summers both "uninformed" and "an unprincipled power player" in describing what happened in his book Democracy Matters (2004). If nothing else, Obama should ask West if Summers has the leadership skills for any major post in the next administration.

Summers' reign as president of Harvard was a terrible failure. How bad was Summers? The Harvard Corporation accepted his resignation offer even though it cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in donations from angry conservative alumni who loved Summers.

But Summers' career as an economist hasn't been much better. Summers is an ardent advocate of uncontrolled free trade and globalization. Summers' first job was in 1981, when he worked as assistant to Martin Feldstein, the head of Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. After a stint at Harvard, Summers went to the World Bank. Back in 1991, Summers was the chief economist of the World Bank, when it was continuing to pursue disastrous policies that did little to help the poor. Summers doesn't deserve all the blame for the failings of the World Bank, but he was never part of any solutions or serious reforms.

While at the World Bank, Summers signed a memo that declared: “Just between you and me, shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [Least Developed Countries]?” The memo noted, “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.”

The memo was written by an underling, and Summers claims that he “co-signed it to stimulate internal debate” (it's funny how many disgusting theories Summers likes to promote in the name of “debate”). It's not even clear how closely Summers read his memo and its claim that "underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted."

One of the problems with the defenders of Summers who suggest that this was meant as satire is the fact that Summers' economic ideology doesn't seem to be much different from this memo. Summers' free market economic logic does seem to support that point of view, even if he normally has the political skill not to say so openly.

When Summers was being hired by Harvard, “Summers's temperament was troubling to some members of the corporation. The word from Washington was that he could be peremptory, condescending, impatient with lesser mortals. He had, as Robert Rubin, Summers's mentor and predecessor as treasury secretary, delicately put it, 'a rough-edges issue.'” As Secretary of the Treasury during a time with few crises, Summers had few dramatic events to challenge him.

As Richard Bradley noted, “Though deferential to his superiors, Summers could be a boss from hell. 'If you're in a meeting, whatever you say, he will make you feel like you're an idiot,' says one Treasury aide who worked for both Summers and Rubin.”

Paul Gigot once wrote, “Larry Summers is to humility what Madonna is to chastity.”

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