Not Larry Summers . . . Please !!

President Obama is said to really like and admire Larry Summers, and it is widely assumed that he will probably nominate him to be the next Chair of the Federal Reserve.

That would be a huge mistake.  I join the loud chorus (a New York Times editorial yesterday, a large number of members of Congress, many economists) wanting to beg the president not to do it.   Here are my reasons:

1.  He is a brilliant man but a badly flawed human being -- a bully and a misogynist who was given a vote of no confidence by the Harvard faculty when he was the university president, largely for his maladroit handling of a famed African-American faculty member.   He also made remarks that got women in an uproar.

2.  As Secretary of Treasury under Bill Clinton, he helped dismantle the bank regulations that played a big part in the 2008 financial collapse.   As the Times editorial says,  "His record on financial regluation is abysmal, and he has not acknowledged the errors."

3. The Times makes the case that he does not have the temperament needed for a Fed chairman.   "He is known for cooperation when he works with those he perceives as having more power than he does, and for dismissiveness toward those he perceives as less powerful.  Those traits would be especially destructive at the Fed . . .  Putting Mr. Summers in charge would risk institutional discord or worse, dysfunction."

4.  His past connections with Wall Street firms, and his subsequent tendency to tilt toward their favor, are worrisome.

5.   If that is not enough, the Times goes further and says that Mr. Summers "has also shown indifference to the effects of economic decisions on ordinary people."

Any one of those reasons should disqualify this brilliant, flawed man, in my opinion.  I hope President Obama listens and asks himself why he wants someone that so many people urge him not to appoint, with such good reasons.   Instead I urge him to appoint the first woman to head the Federal Reserve, the highly qualified Janet Yellen who does not have ties to Wall Street and seems to have all the qualifications that Summers lacks.

Ralph