Monday, June 8, 2009

The Difficult Larry Summers

It has never been a secret that Larry Summers has a difficult personality. Others around the President appear to be fed up with it. That's the only conclusion I can reach from a curious NYT piece from Jackie Calmes that pretty much sticks to the theme that Summers is difficult to work with.

Who has the long knives out for Summers? Like a good mystery novel, there are many suspects.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke clearly has to be a suspect since the rumor continues to circulate that Summers wants Bernanke's job.

Judging from Calmes piece, Christina Romer, the chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, is not too happy with Summers, and Calmes hints that the low key Treasury Secretary Geithner has had some difficulties.

I don't expect to see much in the way of change, however. Watch the real insiders for clues, i.e., David Rubenstein, and the like. If they start playing tennis with Christy Romer instead of Summers, Summers is in trouble, but I don't see that happening any time soon. From what I hear Summers is kissing Obama's butt on things Obama wants, and only presents his own case on topics Obama has not yet formed an opinion on.

1 comment:

  1. To try to understand more of Larry Summers you might want to check out his interview today with Maria Bartiromo on CNBC at 2pm EST, after Obama outlines his regulatory reform plan. For details check out www.cnbc.com.

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