Larry Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, is heading back to Harvard after the midterm elections. Summers’ departure was announced by the White House in a statement.
President Barack Obama said:
I will always be grateful that at a time of great peril for our country, a man of Larry’s brilliance, experience and judgment was willing to answer the call and lead our economic team. Over the past two years, he has helped guide us from the depths of the worst recession since the 1930s to renewed growth. And 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. We will miss him here at the White House, but I look forward to soliciting his continued advice and his counsel on an informal basis, and appreciate that he has agreed to serve as a member of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Polls show Americans have lost confidence in Obama’s handling of the economy so Summers’ “brilliance, experience and judgment” are more suited for the faculty lounge than the real world.
In any case, Summers is probably exhausted.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said:
Look, I think in many ways they [Summers and members of the economic team] probably fit four or five years worth of work into two years.
Hey, Larry, don’t let the door hit ya on your way out.
