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Lawrence H. Summers

Lawrence H. Summers

15 commentaries
1 videos & podcasts

Lawrence H. Summers was US Secretary of the Treasury (1999-2001), Chief Economist of the World Bank (1991-93), Director of the US National Economic Council (2009-10), and President of Harvard University (2001-06), where he is currently University Professor.

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  1. The World Is Still on Fire
    summers14_TONY KARUMBAAFP via Getty Images_sudanfamine Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images

    The World Is Still on Fire

    Apr 15, 2024 Lawrence H. Summers & N.K. Singh think policymakers need to get four things right to shore up the credibility of the international system.

  2. The Multilateral Development Banks the World Needs
    summers13_Natali_MisGetty Images_worldconnections Natali_Mis/Getty Images

    The Multilateral Development Banks the World Needs

    Jul 24, 2023 Lawrence H. Summers & N.K. Singh offer a plan to ensure that these key institutions prove equal to challenges of the twenty-first century.

  3. A New Chance for the World Bank
    summers12_ STEFANI REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images)_world bank ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images

    A New Chance for the World Bank

    Oct 10, 2022 Lawrence H. Summers calls for reforms focused on crisis response, post-conflict reconstruction, and the green transition.

  4. Debt Relief Is the Most Effective Pandemic Aid
    brown64_NICHOLAS KAMMAFP via Getty Images_georgievamalpassworldbankIMF Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

    Debt Relief Is the Most Effective Pandemic Aid

    Apr 15, 2020 Gordon Brown & Lawrence H. Summers call for a two-year moratorium on payments for every emerging and developing economy that needs help.

  5. Can a Political-Economy Vicious Circle Be Avoided?
    summers10 Getty Images

    Can a Political-Economy Vicious Circle Be Avoided?

    Dec 26, 2019 Lawrence H. Summers sees the US presidential election in November as the year's most important decision worldwide.

  1. fischer224_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_trumpinauguration Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Trump at the Gates

    Joschka Fischer urges Europeans to recognize that they are now on their own in an increasingly dangerous world.
  2. stiglitz347_Kevin DietschGettyImages_bye_biden Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    The End of Progress?

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    Though the United States has long led the world in advancing basic science and technology, it is hard to see how this can continue under President Donald Trump and the country’s ascendant oligarchy. America’s rejection of Enlightenment values will have dire consequences.

    predicts that Donald Trump’s second administration will be defined by its rejection of Enlightenment values.
  3. varoufakis123_China PhotosGetty Images_chinayuandollar China Photos/Getty Images

    China’s Trump Dilemma

    Yanis Varoufakis

    Will the China hawks in Donald Trump’s administration railroad him into a confrontation that transcends tariffs and embraces financial sanctions of the type the US and the European Union imposed on Russia? If they do, China's leaders will have to decide whether to decouple from the dollar-based international monetary system.

    thinks the real choice facing Chinese leaders may be whether to challenge the dollar's hegemony head-on.
  4. lamy10_Badru KatumbaGettyImages_jackfruit_farmer Badru Katumba/Getty Images

    The Key to Narrowing the Development Gap

    Pascal Lamy, et al. explain how investments in African agri-food systems can advance many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
  5. galbraith39_rudall30Getty Images_businessmanforest rudall30/Getty Images

    Economists’ Way Out of the Wilderness

    James K. Galbraith argues that the continued dominance of nineteenth-century thinking has resulted in a catalogue of failure.
  6. benami221_Justin SullivanGetty Images_trump Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    Trump the Revolutionary Isolationist

    Shlomo Ben-Ami hears echoes of the Monroe Doctrine in the US president's threats to acquire Greenland.
  7. hubbard4_Chen MengtongChina News ServiceVCG via Getty Images_scottbessent Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

    How the Trump Administration Can Hit Its Growth Target

    Glenn Hubbard urges policymakers to focus on the three pillars of increased productivity.
  8. oneill129_Saul LoebGettyImages_us_treasury Saul Loeb/Getty Images

    Trump’s First Test Will Be the Bond Market

    Jim O'Neill wonders if recent market signals will keep the new administration’s radicalism in check.
  9. ahzhang19_Jaap ArriensNurPhoto via Getty Images_tiktok Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    The TikTok Boomerang

    Angela Huyue Zhang thinks the US government's ban on the app has left it in an untenable position.

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