Larry Summers

All the talk about Larry Summers as possible candidate for Treasury Secretary reminds me of listening to a talk he gave 10 years ago to the New York State Bankers Association. The talk was so dense and opaque that many in the audience looked about, wondering whether they would be given a snap quiz on the subject matter.

The problem appears to me to be that Mrs. Summers' little boy Lawrence doesn't play well with other kids. Stanley Fish hits the nail on the head: Summers does not possess the virtues that a Treasury Secretary needs at this moment in history, when there are likely to be tense negotiations with Congress, foreign finance ministers and other stakeholders, before a way out of the current economic crisis is fashioned.