Just What We Need: the Wisdom (sic) of Larry Summers

Apparently, Larry Summers just gave an interview to Mark Mardell of BBC News. In that interview he declared that European leaders have a “deep and profound and continuing failure of realism.” Who is he kidding? He may have managed well enough as Treasury Secretary in the good times of Bill Clinton’s administration; but, as the head of the National Economic Council, did he ever give Barack Obama advice that would benefit the general public, rather than the elite 1% of the financial sector? It might be extreme to presume that, had Obama listened to more economic advisors with a broader sense of vision, we would not have the proliferation of Occupy movements that we have today, even if recovery was still “work in progress.” Summers has done little to benefit either Harvard or the Obama administration, and it is hard to tell just what possessed the BBC to give him their precious attention.