No more Larry Summers Watch

Cindy and Lupi both emailed to tell me Summers is out for Treasury, and Tim Geithner is in. A question from one of them: Is that good? Geithner was a protogee of Summers at Treasury, but what if we were all judged by our past bosses? We should let Geithner make his own mistakes; then hang him out to dry. Point is, Summers was a disaster at Treasury on his first watch, given his fatal policy choices (akin to invading Iraq -- except without human casualties, at least so far). So, rewarding him would have been too much. Now it appears Summers will be housed in the White House as "Senior Economic Advisor" to the President. (WashPost, Sat11-22) There, he can do more damage if not controlled, but at least he'll have less of a podium (we hope) for pontification. And, maybe Geithner, having acted with authority at the Fed, will have his own voice. (Of course, we don't know whether that will be any more effective than the bailout moves so far.) We'll have to watch and listen. Papers say Summers is being considered for Fed Chairman when Bernanke's term expires. Let's let the feminists and environmentalists work their magic over the next couple of years to scupper that one. As a self-appointed Madame DuFarge, I'm officially off the case, but still knitting.
Email me at jwagner@bethesda20817.net or leave a comment below.