Apr 7, 2010

Is Larry Summers leaving the Obama administration?

Larry Summers, the National Economic Council director, could be leaving his job rather sooner than later, and Greg Mankiw seems to be worrying about it. There seems to be many reasons for this, the main one being an ego problem. Since the beginning, Summers had been on a quest for power within the US government. He wanted the Fed Chairman's job (which he didn't get), he asked to play golf with the president, he desired Cabinet status and sought a personal car and driver...And the administration had to accommodate to all his little needs and desires...
His leaving might therefore be a good thing. He didn't seem to be  contributing in any way to the quality of economic analysis and advising at the White House, probbaly because he was too concerned about being the most powerful and was not even listening to Romer and Goolsbee. Even if this is extremely unlikely, Greg Mankiw should replace him. What they need is a balanced analyst, not an opiniated egocentric provocator.

2 comments:

Cam said...

I love Obama's nickname for Summers - 'Dr Kevorkian'

Christoph said...

Larry Summers rocks! He might not be lovable but his departure would be a loss to the administration.