LAWRENCE SUMMERS, OBAMA'S TOP ECONOMIC ADVISER, QUITTING
| September 21, 2010 Top economic adviser to leave White House  AP – FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2009, file photo, Lawrence Summers, White House chief economic adviser, speaks … By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer Julie Pace WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's top economic adviser, Lawrence Summers, plans to leave the White House at the end of the year, a move that comes as the administration struggles to show an anxious public it's making progress on the economy. While administration officials Tuesday quickly sought to paint the announcement as an expected development, Summers' departure shakes up an economic team that has been under fire for its handling of the recovery. It's also a team already in transition following the recent departures of other high-profile Obama advisers. In a statement, the president said he is grateful for Summers' service during a time of "great peril for our country." "While we have much work ahead to repair the damage done by the recession, we are on a better path thanks in no small measure to Larry's wise counsel," Obama said. Summers will return to Harvard University, a move a senior administration official said was always part of Summers' long-standing plans. The official said the president asked Summers last fall to stay through 2010 in order to see through the passage of financial regulatory legislation and the continued implementation of the economic stimulus package. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal White House matters. Summers is the third high-level member of Obama's economic team to leave in recent months, following the departure of budget director Peter Orszag and Christina Romer, head of the Council of Economic Advisers, both of whom left this summer. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would be the only one of Obama's top-tier economic advisers to remain with the administration should be stay through the end of the year.... Last month the top House Republican, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, called on Obama to fire Summers, Geithner and other members of the economic team. "Never before has the need for a fresh start in Washington been more pressing," Boehner said during a speech in Cleveland.... Summers, often seen with a Diet Coke in his hand, has a reputation as a brilliant, if occasionally smug, economist. During the debate over overhauling the nation's financial regulations, liberals bristled at Summers' rejection of proposals to place limits on the size of banks. They held him partly responsible for the deregulation of banks that occurred in 1999 while he was treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton.... |
