Newsweek - National News, World News, Health, Technology, Entertainment and more... | Newsweek.com

Powering Up

RSS
SPONSORED BY

Authors

Newsweek Staff

Categories





Links

Featured Postings

Wait! We're Not Done with Bush Yet...

3:18 PM, January 19, 2009 | Comments (25)
Celebratory is a safe way to describe the mood in Washington. And not just for Barack Obama's big day on Tuesday. When Obama raises his right hand, it will mark for millions of his supporters the end of something else. At Dupont Circle in Northwest Washington,...

Archives

See All from November
Previous
November 2008
Next
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
Full Post
Posted Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:26 PM

No Love for Summers

Daniel Stone
Not the best week for the candidacy of Larry Summers for Treasury secretary. As team Obama keeps tight lips about who's still being considered for the position, several left-leaning groups have begun to take advantage of the president-elect's idling time by pushing public opinion.

A petition on The Nation's Web site calls upon Obama to say no to Summers, faulting the former TreasSec for his past support of deregulation of financial markets during the '90s, a collective decision at the time that, is now clear, was responsible for at least some of the lending domino effect leading to the pre-bailout wheezing of financial markets. He's also the target of several feminist groups who have brought up again comments Summers made as president of Harvard in 2005, suggesting women lacked the same aptitude in science and engineering as men.

Still, there's a case to be made that Summers could be taking unfair blame for these past missteps, and appointing him to the post could actually make him a better, not worse, Treasury secretary under Obama. Why? Summers pursued market deregulation in the late '90s, but there's little doubt he feels the same way now. With the current destabilized global markets, it's Summers--perhaps more than anyone else except, maybe, Alan Greenspan--who recognizes the folly of deregulation, which was the policy, we shouldn't forget, of much of the Clinton administration. He also is one of the country's leading economic thinkers, and he has two Nobel laureates on two different sides of his blood line.

His women-in-science comments can, in some ways, be another benefit for Summers; the episode showed, yes, his ability to put his foot in his mouth, but also a quality that's rare in Washington: he's not political. He doesn't speak to the cameras and doesn't try to get away with empty smooth talk. He speaks his mind--at times at his own peril--sometimes uninhibited, which is a quality Obama has said he'd value in any adviser, and would ensure the new president doesn't surround himself by an army of yes men. And dissent or vigorous debate over the flagship issue of the new administration (that being the economy, not women in science), could lead to more thoughtful and considered action by the administration.

Summers would have a high reputation hurdle to overcome. But with the current whispering suggesting Summers would be a disaster in the role, he clearly would have much to prove. And nothing motivates quite like having a lot to gain...or much more to lose.
Advertisement
You must be a registered user to comment.  Click here to register.  Already a user?  Click here to login.

Member Comments

Posted By: larocco (November 13, 2008 at 3:49 PM)

Perhaps the reason that women do not generally do as well in math and sience can be explained in the way we treat our girls from the earliest childhood on.   We expect boys to be good in these fields but excuse poor performance by our daughters (especially "soft" are the dads)  We even discriminate against our daughters in the toys that we make available to them.  Boys learn how to build model planes - girls get dollhouses and stoves etc.  

With a differant early education our young women will have the skills needed to excell in the siences.  Angela Merkel is a Nuclear Physist.

Report Abuse
Posted By: rangerone314 (November 13, 2008 at 11:59 AM)

Most young girls display more language aptitude than young boys and seem to talk at an earlier age than most boys and socialize more...

Why is suggesting anything other than men and women being mirror images of each other taboo?

There are obviously physical differences between men & women; they have some different organs even.  The brain is an organ; why is it impossible for IT to be different?

Different does not mean inferior.

Report Abuse
Posted By: rjs784 (November 13, 2008 at 10:40 AM)

Look!  Only God Almighty is Perfect!!! Who hasn't said something or done something that was a mistake.  Right now we (America) needs the best and brightest talent to get us out of this mess.  If Summers is that talent and President-Elected Obama is comfortable with him then by all means make him the Treasury Secretary and let him help lead us back on the right path.  

Report Abuse
Show All Comments (15) »