Wednesday, September 22, 2010

GOOD RIDDANCE

I see that Larry Summers is leaving the government to go back to Harvard at the end of this year. I am sure we are all delighted to see him go, but before we draw any optimistic conclusions concerning a shift in Obama's economic policy, I would just point out that Harvard has a very strict policy about leaves. If a tenured professor takes a leave of more than two consecutive years, he or she is required to resign his or her tenured position. The rule was enforced even in the cases of MacGeorge Bundy and Henry Kissinger, both of whom elected to remain as National Security Advisers. Summers, who is nothing if not self-interestedly ambitious, probably figures that having now totally fouled up at least three jobs [World Bank, Harvard President, Presidential economic advisor], he might have a hard time finding a paying job if he allowed his tenure to lapse.
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8 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 22, 2010 at 2:01 PM

    Right. What sort of troglodyte would think that there is even the possibility that genetics might explain even one iota of the achievement gap between men and women in the sciences? And what sort of cretin would ask a luminary like Cornel West – our generation’s most fecund mind – to put his rapping career on hold and to take up more scholarly pursuits?

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  2. UnknownSeptember 22, 2010 at 4:02 PM

    What sort of troglodyte would go back to teaching where he was once president? Maybe Harvard won't take him back, or will shove him into a place where he has to teach future pols how not to do it. I have a special place in my memory bank for men like him, in the lowest circle of Dante. Too intemperate possibly, but male chauvinist pigs deserve it.

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  3. Robert Paul WolffSeptember 22, 2010 at 4:45 PM

    Judging from past evidence, they will probably name a chair after him!

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  4. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2010 at 7:36 PM

    If John Woo can get a job at the Berkeley Law School after his "service" in the Bush administration, I have to believe that Larry Summers will have no problem finding a job in academia.

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  5. jeff houseSeptember 23, 2010 at 8:14 AM

    I agree with Ryan. Failure is no bar to advancement.

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  6. Brian LeiterSeptember 23, 2010 at 9:51 AM

    You'll have to ask your co-panelist at the Social Studies event, the "liberal" economist Brad DeLong, to explain his view of Larry Summers:
    http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/who-can-replace-larry-summers.html

    I guess "liberal" economists stick together.

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  7. UnknownSeptember 23, 2010 at 12:42 PM

    I don't know much about his stint at the World Bank, but I have a hard time seeing how Summers "totally fouled up" his gigs at Harvard and in the Obama administration. It would be nice if an argument were offered for such an extreme claim.

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  8. ChrisSeptember 25, 2010 at 4:22 PM

    For some reason I feel the compelling urge to bring this to everyone's attention.

    http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/index.html

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