24/7 Insights

• Larry Summers is a well-known economist who served in government for many years.
• While he has been very powerful, his ideas and worldviews leave much to be desired.
• 24/7 is your home for all things finance and investing. To get started, download our free report on the two stocks we recommend every investor hold forever.

Lawrence (Larry) H. Summers is a policy maker, economist, and academic. And possibly one of the biggest cogs in the U.S. Economic Machine that you might have heard of. He is a big proponent of the “Invisible Hand,” theory, deregulated the derivatives market in the 1990s, is a climate denier, and is listed on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet.

He was the Secretary of the Treasure for President Clinton and under President Obama’s administration, he was the Director of the National Economic Council. He is currently a professor at Charles W. Eliot University and was the President of Harvard University for 5 years. He is also one of the three members of the OpenAI board and is regarded as a controversial person. He often advises high-profile companies from Silicon Valley to Wall Street such as the DCG, Jiko, Andreessen Horowitz, and PillPack. Besides OpenAI, he sits on the board of Block and Lending Club.

One of his most controversial moments was a memo he wrote at the World Bank endorsing sending pollution to lower-wage countries. He also cost Harvard University $1 billion from some poorly made interest-rate bets. He once said that men have the greatest aptitude in science (not women), and he is regarded to be generally uninterested in the interests of humanity. Summers is known among colleges to be the sort of person who considers most people to be intellectually beneath him. A journalist Felix Salmon summarized him best when he said: “Summers, winner of the prestigious John Bates Clark medal in economics and nephew of two economics Nobel laureates, is very smart, often wrong, and never in doubt.”

So, given he has done so much, worked in such high offices, and rubs shoulders with some of the most powerful people in the world, how much do we actually know about him? Who is this man who was given power to shape our lives and country? In order to help, we found some of his most well-known and insightful quotes that will help us understand him and answer these questions. Here are 12 quotes every 40-year-old needs to hear.

Why Are We Talking About This?

Sometimes we have no idea who the people are who have incredible power over our daily lives. From private equity to government positions, a single decision can alter your reality. Larry Summers is one of those people, and to learn more about them you should always seek to read what they’re said in the past. Things that help illustrate their character.

#1 On Artificial Intelligence

“It remains to be seen just how transformative artificial intelligence will be for the macroeconomy in the next several years. I do think the ultimate long-run impact, whether it’s once a decade, once a generation, once a century, or once a millennium, is going to be very profound.”

Once the trend and fascination with AI passes, we will hopefully realize what a terrible idea it has been. What once was abhorrent in the eyes of society (stealing other people’s work) has become cool because a bunch of rich guys want to do it.

So far, AI isn’t popular, it’s making the internet a terrible place to visit, and is telling people to add glue to their homemade pizza. Even though running AI requires almost double the energy that is currently available in the United States, Larry Summers is really invested in it. When you read these quotes please remember that Summers is, “very smart, often wrong, and never in doubt.” It is OK to think critically about anyone’s predictions.

#2 A Profound Threat to Prosperity

“When you have a president who challenges the results of elections and brags about what he could do in one day as a dictator, it is not something that can be completely relied on. That is a profound threat to our long-run prosperity, and therefore short-run asset prices, economic behavior, hiring, investment, and everything else.”

To most people, the transition from democracy to dictatorship would impact their rights and quality of life profusely. This Summers quote adds another item to the list of, “Why Dictatorships Are Bad”: the economy will suffer! It’s not our first concern, to be honest, but it is something to keep in mind.

#3 A Rule of Thumb

“A good rule of thumb for many things in life holds that things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then happen faster than you thought they could.”

I like this quote because, in this century, success looks differently than it did when Larry Summers was born (1954). Most essentials (house, food, clothing, electricity, etc) were easily obtainable through minimum-wage jobs. It was common and possible to support families off of a single salary. That is almost impossible in today’s world. To hold yourself to the common “standards of success,” like immense wealth, climbing corporate ladders, having time to shower, etc., you are just setting yourself up to feel a lot of shame about not achieving goals in a hostile capitalist system that people like Larry Summers created.  So, set reasonable goals for yourself (if you feel it necessary to set goals at all,) and go at your own pace.

#4 Pay the Piper

“The country will not have to pay the piper. Through a combination of sound policy actions and a great deal of good luck, we are well on our way to a soft landing and a period of growth and price stability.”

It’s important to note that some of the regulations that Summers helped pass during his time in the treasury position made the 2008 recession possible. The attitude of taking without providing something in return is a terrible attitude to have.

#5 Investment in the Information Age

“If investments in factories were the most important investments in the industrial age, the most important investments in an information age are surely investments in the human brain”

We agree with this quote. Investing in the human brain, not artificial ones, would serve our country well. We can live in a capitalist society and still fund things like school, universal school lunches, increasing teachers’ salaries, and providing school supplies. Both realities can exist at once. Other countries already do it. But, since we aren’t all policymakers who are able to affect people on a national level, we can invest in our own brains. Verify the news you get from Facebook. Read a physical book. And trust experts in their fields. You can also invest in your local education systems, as well.

#6 The Economic Logic

“I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to it.”

This is one of Larry Summers’ most controversial takes. The idea was instead of heavily populated and wealthy countries reducing their pollution, we should just dump it in countries that are already struggling with global equity. The rest of this quote talks about unpolluted parts of Africa that should be polluted to better distribute pollution. I think this idea highlights the general attitude of Boomers: Hand the problem to someone else, instead of solving the problem and reducing harm. As millennials, we have to live with the consequences of that attitude. We don’t have to do the same thing to the next generations. We can still turn things around.

#7 America’s Prosperity

“It used to be said that when the U.S. sneezed, the world caught a cold. The opposite is equally true today. Our prosperity is linked inextricably to the maintenance of a strong world economy, an open international trading system, and stable global financial markets.”

Making money is the main goal of US corporations. Make more money, take more resources, and do it as cheaply as possible to maximize profit margins consequences be damned. What’s refreshing about younger generations is that large profits aren’t the only noble goals anymore. Younger generations are concerned about eradicating human labor exploitation and creating a less harmful consumption system. They are anxious about the planet being unlivable in their lifetimes.

As Millennials start replacing corporate greed with community building, and endless consumerism with more sustainable practices, we can create prosperity of different kinds. I think clean air and water can be considered prosperity. Reliable communities filled with people who have different skills can be considered prosperity. Passing policies that increase the younger generation’s quality of life instead of preserving Boomer wealth can be considered prosperity. Let’s change our definition.

#8 Girls’ Education

“Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world.”

There are a lot of quotes from Summer that are less than tactful and humane. This isn’t one of them! Educating 50% of the global population would logically result in high-return investments. Imagine what more brains can do if given the chance to flourish.

#9 Open to all Ideas

“The idea that we should be open to all ideas is very different from the supposition that all ideas are equally valid.”

I see the “all ideas and beliefs are equally valid,” attitude all over the internet. I agree, it’s not true. An opinion that relies on anecdotal evidence vs results backed by vast research and peer-reviewed studies isn’t equally valid. We can listen to ideas, and use research to see which ones are valid.

#10 Taxes Discourage Everything

“All taxes discourage something. Why not discourage bad things like pollution rather than good things like working?”

Something that reading an afternoon’s worth of Larry Summer quotes does it really help a person understand how much of our society is shaped by the economy, tax laws, and resource sharing. I would love to see a country that taxes “bad things like pollution.” What a great environment that would be.

#11 Antidote to Dangerous Ideas

“The only antidote to dangerous ideas is strong alternatives vigorously advocated.”

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. The loudest toddler meltdown gets the most attention. Did Larry Summer just give us a way to combat loud, alt-right extremists?  I’m not sure. But his advice that persistent advocacy is the only way to get what you want seems like a good theory to test out.

#12 On Children Working

“There are children who are working in the textile business in Asia who would be prostitutes on the streets if they did not have those jobs.”

This is one of the instances where “often wrong,” comes into play. We think it’s reasonable to be able to create a world where children don’t have to work at all. Where resources are shared, and no one is forced into sex work if they don’t want to. The idea, “It’s ok that I’m exploiting children and making them work in sweatshops is fine because the alternative of no sweatshops would be worse justifies the exploitation,” is simply just untrue.

#13 On Looking Around

“There are idiots. Look around.”

This isn’t kind, but I’m not here to judge whether this subjective opinion is truthful or not. I am saying that I’ve collected enough anecdotal evidence to agree. Another popular metaphor besides, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” that comes to mind is, “The call is coming from inside the house.”

#14 On Polluting the Poor

“I have always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted.”

It’s as if there is a direct correlation between people and pollution. I’m not sure exactly what his point is, or the context of this quote, but I think the term, “under-polluted,” is interesting. Is there a minimum amount that a community should be polluted? Are untouched biomes an abomination?

#15 Backyard Thoughts

“When I look out the window at my backyard, I can’t think of anything interesting to ask. I mean, it’s green, it’s growing- but nothing occurs to me that any concentrated effort of thought could possibly enlighten. Whereas in economic, statistical, or mathematical kinds of things, I can think lots of questions.”

We understand that interests are as diverse as the people who have them, but this quote may further highlight his lack of value for the environment. This quote flies in the face of almost all mental health, spiritual, and good-sense teaching throughout human history. The ability to sit calmly without needing to keep our brains busy with making money or doing something “productive” is the sign of a healthy mind. It would seem, therefore, that Summers does not have a healthy mind of lifestyle.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.