Comments on: Larry Summers In A Superman Cape? Really?

By: acquarius74

acquarius74 — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:43:25 +0000

Summers was born 1954. He was on the staff of the Council of Economic Advisers under Pres. Reagan (GHW Bush=VP) from 1982-1983.

I labeled him a Bush Dynasty mole more for his record at the World Bank as being repressive toward developing nations. The PR propaganda about the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization is a lot of cover-up. The book I reference above reveals the ugly side, as does the books by John Perkins (Confessions of An Economic Hit Man; The Secret History of the American Empire). There is a video on YouTube of interviews with the author. Amy Goodman also interviewed him on democracynow.org.

There is a very good article about Summers on Crooks & Liars 11/06/08.
link: http://news.yahoo.com/thenatio.....n/45381035

He had to resign as President of Harvard University because he made a public statement that he did not think women were innately mentally suited to be scientists. (so, was Marie Curie a freak of nature??)

Here is the link to a petition to be delivered to Obama’s team requesting that Summers not be appointed Director of the White House National Economic Council:

http://action.openleft.com/page/petition/treasury

By: selise

selise — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:14:38 +0000

p.s. don’t think his a bush dynasty mole – or is there more i dont’ know? i think of him as a clinton/dlc/dem guy. another example of the bipartisanship for corporate governance.

By: selise

selise — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:09:37 +0000

thanks for the moyers links – i had forgotten about that interview. will have to give the podcast another listen. thanks again!

By: acquarius74

acquarius74 — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:31:04 +0000

Excellent post, selise!

One of the people “forced out” by Summers was JOSEPH STIGLITZ! Most of you probably have the book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - by Greg Palast. The specific references to Summers and Stiglitz are on pages 151-158.

“Joseph Stiglitz was chief economist of the World Bank.
In 1999 the World Bank fired Stiglitz. He was not allowed a discreet “retirement”; U. S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, I’m told, demanded a public excommunication for Stiglitz’s having expressed his first mild dissent from globilaztion World Bank-style.”

[I paid less than $5.00 used from Amazon.com, paperback]

RE: James K Galbraith: He was on Bill Moyers Journal 10/24/08. I will give links to text and video below. If links don’t work, go to www.pbs.org then click on Bill Moyers Journal. When there search for James Galbraith (gets text). For video, click tab Watch/Listen, scroll down to October 24, 2008.

text: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/jour.....ript2.html

video: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/jour.....atch2.html

Jane: I would like to see one of your diaries on the history of Summers and Stiglitz. We need to hammer away at Summers - he’s a Bush Dynasty mole.

By: selise

selise — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:20:48 +0000

ah, you’re referring to the gramm-leach-bliley Act, i was confused (thought it was the CFMA). iirc, the different senate vote was about changes to the community reinvestment act – and nothing to do with removing the glass-steagll regulations.

By: spoonful

spoonful — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:19:37 +0000

Granted everything you say about the two new appointees above is true. However, it is so nice to see Paul Volker again. We have him largely to thank for the relatively low inflation rates of the last 20-25 years.

By: Thrasyboulos

Thrasyboulos — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:01:30 +0000

Yeah, it’s been surreal watching Bill Clinton blame Wall Street excess for this mess. Also, even more surreal for Obama to give his Wall Street vs Main Street speech post Lehman, and watch two of the four people most responsible for fiasco on steroids, Rubin and Summers, directly behind him, smug as can be. All that Wall Street campaign money didn’t go to waste, it looks like.

By: brendanx

brendanx — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:59:11 +0000

No, you don’t. The final language was passed 90-8. The Senate’s first vote, whatever you call it, was the close one.

By: muleboy303

muleboy303 — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:29:47 +0000

iirc, in the heat of the primary campaigns, as the sub-prime crisis continued not to bottom, Hillary proposed an “emergency working group” to tackle the mortgage problems. i remember Greenspan’s name floated, which struck me as odd at the time.

By: selise

selise — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:20:55 +0000

which vote are you referring to? do i have it wrong?