Lawrence Summers



Profile:
Full name: Lawrence Henry Summers

Area of interest: Economics

Journals/Organisation: Financial Times

Email: [mailto:Lawrence_Summers@ksg.harvard.edu Lawrence_Summers@ksg.harvard.edu]; contacts page

Personal website: Harvard KSG faculty website: Lawrence H. Summers

Websites: http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/lawrence-summers

Blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/lawrencesummers

Representation:

Networks: https://twitter.com/#!/lhsummers



Biography:
About: American economist and academic. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010. He is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology: BSc, 1975; Harvard: Ph.D. Economics, 1982; Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University

Career: Senior public policy positions in US: political economist - President’s Council of Economic Advisers; chief economist, World Bank; Secretary of US Treasury, 1999-2001; 27th president of Harvard University, 2001/2006; Harvard University Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Kennedy School; since 2009 is Director of the White House's National Economic Council for President Barack Obama
 * see Harvard KSG faculty website: BIO | CV (pdf)

Current position/role: (former FT chief economics commentator)


 * also writes/has written for:

Other roles/Main role: Harvard University Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Kennedy School

Other activities: Part-time Managing Director of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._E._Shaw_%26_Co. D.E. Shaw & Co]

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight: Renaissance man, Guardian interview, 2005
 * Harvard KSG faculty website: speeches

Broadcast media:

Video:

Controversy/Criticism:
 * Larry Summers is playing economic Jeopardy - Larry Summers’ considerable intellect suggests that he would be an excellent contestant on the popular game show Jeopardy. Of course, on the show, the question offered by the contestant must match the answer on the board. Summers and I disagree on the answer that matches the question “What is President Obama’s budget?” Let’s see why - Glen Hubbard, FT, 27th April 2012
 * Change means possibility and pain - 'Change within organisations always and everywhere involves loss. Sometimes the loss is small, as when the boss asks us to give up a familiar routine or move to a distant corner of the building. Sometimes it is of existential proportions, as when a new assignment challenges us to reconsider our values, status and career. Either way, distress is the inevitable result' - Simon London, Financial Times, 28th February 2006
 * Harvard row over sex and science - 'The president of Harvard University has caused a stir among academics by suggesting women have less innate ability at science and maths than men' - BBC News, 18th Januay 2005
 * see also: controversies - Wikipedia

Awards/Honours: John Bates Clark Medal, 1993 - given every two years to most outstanding American economist under forty years of age

Scoops:

Other:



Books & Debate:

 * Understanding unemployment OCLC 15487448, 1990
 * Development and the environment OCLC 26146265, 1992
 * Investing in all the people: Educating women in developing countries OCLC 45730902, 1994 (e.book)
 * Curbing predatory home mortgage lending: a joint report OCLC 45177710, 2000
 * Renewing the Atlantic partnership OCLC 55110672, 2004 (with Henry Kissinger; Charles Kupchan)
 * Harvard business review on leadership in a changed world OCLC 53330764, 2004 (with C.K. Prahalad; Moss Kanter)

Forthcoming work: A Climate of Change Hamilton Project Ideas on Energy Security and Climate OCLC 231581671, 2009

(with Jason Furman, senior economic adviser to Barack Obama in his President campaign of 2008)


 * see also MIT Press | Amazon.com

Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances:

Debate:



Financial Times:
Column name:

Remit/Info: Economics

Section: Comment

Role: Contributor (former Chief economics commentator)

Pen-name:

Email:

Website: FT.Com / Lawrence Summers

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Monday

Regularity: Monthly

Column format:

Average length: 900 words



Articles: 2013

 * Help business by taxing  profits abroad - The US should eliminate the distinction between foreign corporate profits - 8th July
 * US must not hasten cuts to budget deficit - Premature fiscal tightening has taken a toll on UK economic growth - 3rd June
 * Don’t blame Reinhart and Rogoff - Political leaders pushing austerity made their choice, then cast about for intellectual buttresses - 6th May
 * America’s problem is not political gridlock - Throughout US history, division and slow change have been the norm rather than the exception - 15th April
 * Europe still has unfinished business - In economic policy what is good for one is not good for all - 18th March
 * US must do more than focus on deficit - A broader, growth-centred agenda is needed to propel the economy - 10th February
 * End the damaging obsession with deficit - America must not lose sight of infrastructure, jobs and growth - 22nd January



Articles: 2012

 * How to fix costly and unjust US tax system - Too many provisions favour a very small minority of fortunate taxpayers - 17th December
 * Building blocks for America’s recovery - Agreement on the target is widespread, but getting there is another matter - 28th October
 * The world is stuck in a vicious cycle - Without a full course of treatment, the economic patient risks relapse - 15th October
 * Britain risks a lost decade unless it changes course - To increase its future potential output, the UK should raise its output today - 17th September
 * America’s state will expand whoever wins - Government spending will have to rise even to maintain current levels of services - 20th August
 * Land of opportunity can fight inequality - Yet even as cyclical issues cease to dominate the economic conversation, it is likely that inequality will move to the forefront - 16th July
 * Time to act: euro collapse would define our era - Once again good news has had a half-life in the markets of less than 24 hours - 19th June
 * Look beyond interest rates to get out of the gloom - With the past week’s dismal US jobs data, signs of increasing financial strain in Europe and discouraging news from China, the proposition that the global economy is returning to a path of healthy growth looks highly implausible - 4th June
 * Growth not austerity is best remedy for Europe - The A-List: Treat symptoms not causes to make a patient worse. So it is in Europe - 30th April
 * Romney must release a credible budget - Voters should have a chance to choose between clear alternatives - 27th April
 * How to ensure stimulus today, austerity tomorrow - The A-List: Contingent plans can state near-term expansion and medium-term prudence - 26th March
 * The US tax system needs rebuilding - For many observers, the central question in debates over deficit reduction is what can be done about entitlements. Growth in spending associated with an ageing population will be the major factor fuelling the growth of federal spending - 27th February
 * Economic uncertainty is no excuse for inaction - The A-List: Increasing demand is the way back to economic health - 24th January
 * We need smart reinvention not destruction - Capitalism in crisis: I suspect that if and when macro-economic policies are appropriately adjusted, much of the contemporary concern will fade away - 9th January
 * Current woes call for smart reinvention not destruction - The A-List: How justified is disillusionment with market capitalism? - 9th January



Articles: 2011

 * IMF must play its part in any euro solution - The A-List: Banks must be recapped to save global economy - 9th December
 * grim and essential lessons for world leaders'' - What can be learnt from the past three years as the G20 gathers in Cannes? The world’s leaders, especially the Europeans, will ignore the following lessons at their peril - 3rd November
 * Why the housing burden stalls America’s economic recovery - The A-List: Allowing negotiation over the past to dominate present policy creates overhangs of much uncertainty - 24th October
 * The world must insist that Europe act - A continuation of the grudging incrementalism of the past two years now risks catastrophe - 19th September
 * to avoid our lost decade'' - 20th August
 * at an agreement will give way to alarm'' - With growth less than 1%, economy is at stall speed - 3rd August
 * to save the eurozone'' - No country is going to generate huge primary surpluses for long periods for the benefit of foreign creditors - 18th July
 * is of the essence, any US budget deal will do'' - The A-List: With the US economy as weak as it is, any agreement must be pushed forward as soon as possible - 13th July
 * to avoid our own lost decade'' - Within years of the two deep postwar recessions, the US grew in the range of 6%. Today that seems inconceivable - 13th June



Articles: 2010

 * sensible stance on recovery'' - The combination of measures proposed offers the best prospect for moving the economy forward - 19th July



Articles: 2008

 * The pendulum swings towards regulation - There will be an enhanced role for government in saving the system from its excesses and inadequacies but policymakers need to be attentive to potential government flaws - 27th October 2008
 * can gain from bail-out'' - The idea has taken hold that the US will have to scale back its aspirations in areas such as healthcare. This is more wrong than right - 29th September 2008
 * global consensus on trade is unravelling'' - The success of the next administration could depend on its ability to engage with a wider range of global economic stakeholders - 25th August 2008
 * The way forward for Fannie and Freddie - The choices made in the coming months will bear on the housing market, future taxpayers and the integrity of the political system - 28th July 2008
 * What we can do in this dangerous moment - The policy choices made in the next few months will matter to America’s economic strength and to the global economy - 30th June 2008
 * Six principles for a new regulatory order - Lawrence Summers joins the debate on proposed changes in regulation and crisis response by describing the properties of any desirable oversight regime - 1st June 2008
 * A strategy to promote healthy globalisation - US international economic policy needs to focus on issues in which the largest number of Americans have the greatest stake - 5th May 2008
 * America needs to make a case for trade - A model is needed that more successfully aligns the interests of people in rich countries with the success of the global economy - 28th April 2008
 * Steps that can safeguard America's economy - Neither US financial institutions nor the economy are likely to suffer from a lack of central bank liquidity provision - 31st March 2008
 * America needs a way to stem foreclosures - The American economic outlook remains highly uncertain. But macro­economic policy is now properly aligned, as the economy will benefit over the next several quarters from fiscal and monetary stimulus - 25th February 2008
 * Beyond fiscal stimulus, further action is needed - Markets and perceptions of the economic outlook change rapidly. Even two months ago most observers doubted predictions of a US recession, saw no need for a fiscal stimulus, and thought that inflation fears should constrain monetary policy - 28th January 2008

also: Harvard KSG faculty website: publications/articles (archive)



News & updates:

 * UK economic policy illogical. Austerity in the UK has cut demand and output more than even pessimists predicted, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has told the BBC. Includes video. 25th March 2013



References:


Links:

 * Wikipedia biog.
 * departure opens door for new ideas'' - In a few weeks, Mr Summers will move back to Harvard where he will be able to think up good ideas without having to second guess what the political traffic will bear, Edward Luce in the FT, 23rd September
 * Lunch with the FT: Larry Summers By Chrystia Freeland, 10th July 2009
 * Larry Summers: Can he make the sums add up?, profiled by Rupert Cornwell in The Independent, 14th March 2009
 * Lawrence Summers and the Battle for the World's Most Powerful University, ISBN 0060568542 by Richard Bradley
 * Why Larry Summers could be a good Treasury Secretary - John Gapper, Financial Times, 7th November 2008