Larry Summers being set up to fail?
I’m back from PyData, which was a lot of fun and filled with super nice nerdy people. My prezi slides are now available here.
I have time for one thought: a bunch of people have chatted me up recently with the theory that Larry Summers is being put in the running for the Fed Chair alongside Janet Yellen just so that, when Yellen gets the call, we can all breathe a sigh of relief it didn’t go to Summers.
In other words, it’s a wholly political ploy so the Obama can look like a hero for women everywhere when he chooses Yellen, and so that we can all conclude that at least Obama’s learned this one lesson with regards to dealing with the ongoing financial crisis: Summers isn’t the solution.
Depending on my mood I sometimes buy into this theory, but obviously I’m still worried.
mathbabe 
The theory may be right and in some ways I hope it is true.
But, I think Obama has shown he has not learned anything if he even gave Summers serious consideration.
Of course, appointments like Geithner and Lew have already proven this.
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hope fully the fed will not survive much longer.. not being part of the government and all
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I can easily believe Summers is a stalking horse, but more likely it’s for someone just as bad or worse, such as Geithner.
Obama appointed Penny Pritzker to a cabinet position, so his female quota is done for the year. Here’s hoping she will bring honor and glory to the female race.
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I’d buy into this if the Obama administration were battling perceptions of being anti women or of not hiring enough of them. As far as I can see, that has not being the case (from an administrative point of view at least) . So I continue to be worried.
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“Depending on my mood I sometimes buy into this theory, but obviously I’m still worried.” (Cathy)
Is it possible that you’re worried by the fact that you’re delimited by the “theory?”
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No.
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My kind of answer. Thanks.
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Sadly Summers means it
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Summers disqualified himself morally from public officce long ago when he coined the term “underpolluted.”
Yves Smith notes his disastrous record of financial mismanagement as Harvard President, which should be a sufficient disqualification for even the political establishment to recognize. Smith did express the concern that Summers is a lightning rod, and Geithner, (arguably Obama’s worst appointment IMO), would be brought in, but at this point it looks as though Yellen is likely to get the job.
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From a conversation I had with someone who knows both:
“Yellen is incredibly bright and thorough. For example, Yellen’s grad school notes were passed among all the students because they were so comprehensive.”
“Not too impressed by Summers. Last time I saw him, we were talking about unemployment, and he seemed to have a poor grasp of some economic theory. The time before, I was at a conference where he was on the phone the entire time – I thought he was doing something important. I then noticed he was playing brickbreaker”
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Is there going to be a video of the pydata presentation in addition to slides?
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Summers wants that position because he’s an arrogant dick. And the banks want him as well because he’s their man. So you should be afraid very afraid. Summers is being set up to fail us the public. I would not rule out him being FED Chairman for a long time.
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There’s no defense for even considering Summers.
This sounds like a defense concocted by those who still believe that President NSA drone Obama is a progressive.
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Nah – you’re assuming that corrupt elites need to be cute, that if they are proposing breathtaking corruption and lies, rubbing our faces in them, that they couldn’t be serious.
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