1. Larry Summers intervention in recent public debates (inflation, BBB, MMT) has to be understood in material grounds: in terms of the positions he once enjoyed in the world, Summers is now unemployable.https://twitter.com/LHSummers/status/1490424193611141121 …
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2. Summers is still a professor & media spots like Washington Post op ed still open to him, but c'mon. Dude used to be Treasury Secretary & President of Harvard. He's never going to play in that league again.
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3. Why will Summers no longer hold the type of high posts he once did? His Harvard presidency ended in faculty revolt over high-handedness & scandal. Obama era advice he gave is now widely seen (including by Summers himself) as too timid & helped slow post 2008 recovery.
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4. As
@BCAppelbaum documented in his fine book The Economists' Hour, in 1990s & later Summers specifically thwarted efforts to by Treasury staff & economists to fix lending and stop the housing bubble from getting out of control.pic.twitter.com/llJIilmOvq
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5. There are other reasons why neither Biden nor any other administration will ever again nominate Summers to a position of power. It's considered impolite to talk about in the media but it has to be a factor.pic.twitter.com/q5QY6pdg08
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6. Summers recent efforts to make himself a gatekeeper of economic discourse have to be seen in the light of his unemployability in the positions he once held. It's way to retain some status in shaping policy. I ask, does he deserve that gatekeeping role?https://jeetheer.substack.com/p/larry-summers-is-not-in-charge?r=bh54&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email …
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Replying to @HeerJeet
This is a necessary piece, Jeet, and your angle is spot on. The toughest thing about Larry is the shape-shifting: a record of offering wildly conflicting advice that appears less tied to actual conditions, and more optimized to the elevation of his own voice.
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Yeah, I didn't make that point because it would've meant going into the weeds but, yes, he's incredibly opportunistic
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