Lawrence Summers
Charles W. Eliot University Professor
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Website: http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~lsummer/
Publications: http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~lsummer/publications.htm
December 16, 2012
"How to Fix Costly and Unjust U.S. Tax System"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
"Sooner or later the American tax code will be reformed...," writes former Treasury Secretary and Harvard Kennedy School professor Lawrence Summers. "Raising revenue will be the main motivation, but at a time of sharply increasing economic polarisation, issues of fairness will be prominent too. There are also legitimate concerns about the complexity of current tax rules and their adverse effects on the economy."
November 5, 2012
"The 'Obama debt' fallacy"
Op-Ed, Reuters
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
Lawrence Summers writes about Mike Boskins' response to Summers' Reuters column last week arguing that in a number of areas of economic policy, President Obama has the superior vision.
October 15, 2012
"The world is stuck in a vicious cycle"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
If the global economy was in trouble before the annual World Bank and IMF meetings in Tokyo last week, it is hard to believe that it is now smooth sailing. Indeed, apart from the modest stimulus provided to the Japanese economy by all the official visitors and the wealthy financial sector hangers on, it is difficult to see what of immediate value was accomplished.
August 19, 2012
"The U.S. State Will Expand Whoever Wins"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
"With the selection of Paul Ryan as the Republican vice-presidential candidate, it is clear both political parties agree that the central issue in the presidential election will be the scale and scope of government involvement in the US economy," writes Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot Professor at Harvard Kennedy School, "but there is a widespread view in both parties that it is feasible and desirable that in the future the federal government will be no larger as a share of the overall economy than it has been historically."
June 3, 2012
"Breaking the Negative Feedback Loop"
Op-Ed, Reuters
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
In a recent op-ed, Lawrence Summers, former Treasury Secretary and economic adviser to President Barack Obama, writes that “With the past week’s dismal U.S. jobs data, signs of increasing financial strain in Europe, and discouraging news from China, the proposition that the global economy is returning to a path of healthy growth looks highly implausible,” however, “it is more likely that negative feedback loops are again taking over as falling incomes lead to falling confidence, which leads to reduced spending and yet further declines in income.”
April 26, 2012
"Romney Must Release A Credible Budget"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
"Political arithmetic is invariably suspect and one should always examine carefully the claims of those seeking votes," writes Belfer Center International Council member Larry Summers, "However, just as one should look at audited and unaudited financials very differently when deciding whether to invest in a company, smart observers have learnt to distinguish between the claims of political candidates and their advisers on one hand, and proposals evaluated by non-political scorekeepers... on the other."
March 25, 2012
"How to ensure stimulus today, austerity tomorrow"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
Economic forecasters divide into two groups. There are those who cannot know the future but think they can – and then there are those who recognise their inability to know the future. Major shifts in the economy are rarely forecast and often not fully recognised until they have been under way for some time. So judgments about the US economy have to be tentative. What can be said is that for the first time in five years a resumption of growth significantly above the economy’s potential now appears a substantial possibility. Put differently, after years when growth was more likely to surprise below expectations than above them, the risks are now very much two-sided.
AP Photo
February 27, 2012
"The U.S. Tax System Needs Rebuilding"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
Whoever wins this year’s US election, the combined effect of three events – the expiry of former president George W. Bush’s tax cuts , a renewal of the legally binding limit on federal borrowing and the start of a Congressionally mandated sequester, a mechanism that will automatically cut domestic spending from 2013 – will force the president and Congress to engage deeply with fiscal issues. The decisions made will do much to determine the country’s future.
January 23, 2012
"The key to recovery: Boosting business confidence"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
"In today’s economic environment, optimism is associated with a rise in both interest rates and stock prices as the expectation is for more profits and demand for funds," writes Lawrence Summers.
Newscast Limited via AP Images
November 20, 2011
"We have to do better on inequality"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor
The principal problem facing the US and Europe for the next few years is an output shortfall caused by a lack of demand. Nothing would increase the incomes of all citizens – poor, middle-class and rich – as much as an increase in demand and associated increases in incomes, living standards and confidence in institutions and the future.
