Word: larryã
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...Director Jack Law and OMB Deputy Sylvia Mathews ’87, Chief of Staff John Podesta told us if we could meet the President at his current event, we could make the pitch to him on the ride over to the World Bank/IMF meeting. The President accepted Larry??s idea in a heartbeat and wrote the new section into the speech with his own hand. The next day, thousands rallied in European capitals, demanding that their countries follow the lead of the United States. In the end, most...
...fight for debt relief intensified, so did Larry??s passion. While some of us used to tease Larry about speaking about debt relief with too much dry financial language, by the time debt relief passed, few could match Larry??s ability to translate what debt relief meant in terms of children who would get health care, food and education. Even Bono was moved by what he called Larry??s “lyrics.” And while many of us are proud of our efforts, and while all of us would give...
...Larry??s commitment to addressing global poverty did not start or end with debt relief. As Secretary of the Treasury, Larry devised a tax cut designed to provide a viable financial incentive for companies to develop and market vaccines for AIDS and other infectious diseases. In the end we could not overcome the resistance of the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, but Larry??s extreme persistence in fighting for it became an administration legend. Indeed, our Chief of Staff began to only half-jokingly suggest that Summers had to be kept away from...
...this testimonial to Larry??s commitment to fighting global poverty leads one to believe that Larry is ready to jump on every bandwagon or support any compassionate-sounding idea, they will be sorely disappointed. Larry combines a soft heart with a hard head. Larry never stopped reminding any of us that a lack of rigor—a willingness to tolerate waste and even corruption—was not consistent with compassionate aims. Those who eschew rigorous analysis and high standards in devising policies to fight global poverty ultimately let down the children they are trying to help...
Certainly, Larry??s list of achievements from his eight years in the Clinton administration is a long one. And his academic work could one day win him the Nobel Prize. I could have written about either. But if you want to talk not only about Larry Summers the scholar or Larry Summers the policy wonk, but Larry Summers the person, there is little that says as much as the fact that when he had his moment at the top of the nation’s economic policy hierarchy, he put the fight to alleviate global poverty...