Re: Larry Summers. Sign here:

:kick:

And one email for me.

Keep it kicked!

Left, right and center, most observers say that there isn't a dime's worth of difference between Yellen and Summers when it comes to monetary policy. But when it comes to their record of predictions about where the economy was headed, Yellen swamps Summers. And when it comes to the regulatory role that the Fed will be engaged in under Dodd-Frank, Summers's history of repealing and blocking regulations during the Clinton administration does not exactly shine unless you're entrenched in the one percent.

No matter how smart Summers thinks he is, and by all accounts he is a brainy guy, he's also a toxic retread and staunch egotist who has pissed off just about everyone who he's rubbed elbows with, or rather poked his elbow into. Summers played a key role in supporting mistakes that brought about the Great Recession, sneering at and even smearing those who, for instance, argued that financial derivatives needed additional controls.

He would be a rotten choice. And the senators who seemed also to think so when they signed the letter of support for Yellen should ignore the White House staff's calls for them to cease their criticism. That criticism is a favor to the president even if he doesn't see it that way.