Lawrence (Larry) Henry Summers is a Jewish economist who served as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury of the United States from 1999 to 2001. He was the 8th Director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010.
He was also president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006, where he is presently a university professor. He is also the head of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School since March 2017.
Is Larry Summers Jewish?
Yes, Larry Summers is Jewish. The Economist Summers is an adviser to two Democrat presidents and former treasury secretary under Bill Clinton.
The economist is apparently in the headlines after claiming that Republicans who deny the gravity of the January 6 attack risk exacerbating inflation.
He believes Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is incorrect when she says there is “nothing to suggest” the United States will enter a recession.
‘There’s nothing to imply that a recession is imminent,’ Yellen said last week at a New York Times economic discussion.
On CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Summers was asked if he felt Yellen was correct, and he said, ‘No.’
‘I think when inflation is as high as it is today and unemployment is as low as it is now, it’s virtually always followed by a recession within two years,’ he added.
‘I look at what’s going on in the stock and bond markets, I look at consumer mood, and I think there’s a good chance of a recession in the next year.’
Given where we’ve gotten, I believe a recession is more likely than not within the next two years,’ said the Democratic economic expert.
In a subtle dig at Yellen and other Biden economists, he added, ‘I think the optimists were incorrect a year ago when they claimed there was no inflation. And I think they’re wrong today.’
‘The Fed’s predictions have historically been far overly optimistic. When they meet this week, I hope they properly realize the magnitude of the situation in their projections.’
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Yellen spent most of 2021 claiming that inflation would be ‘transitory’. And the Fed has subsequently been chastised for delaying tightening monetary policy and raising near-zero interest rates.
Summers, on the other hand, expressed optimism: ‘That is something we can manage.’ We’ve had them since the country’s inception. We must be prepared and respond fast if and when this occurs.’
He also said that President Biden can’t do much about gas prices, pinning them on geopolitical developments in Ukraine is ‘hypocrisy in the extreme’.
Meet Larry Summers’s Wife Elisa New And His Jewish Family Origin
The former secretary of the US treasury, Mr. Larry Summers is currently married to his second wife, Elisa New. He was born on November 30, 1954, in New Haven, Connecticut, into a Jewish family.
His mother Anita Summer is of Romanian-Jewish origin while his father, Robert Summers was originally Samuelson. Both of his parents were economists and professors at the University of Pennsylvania.
Wikipedia mentioned he is also the nephew of two economics Nobel laureates: Paul Samuelson (brother of Robert Summers) and Kenneth Arrow (brother of Anita Arrow Summers).
He grew up in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, where he attended Harriton High School. He graduated from Harvard University, where he became the university’s youngest tenured professor at the age of 28.
Summer was married to his first wife, Victoria Joanne, in September 1984. She was an associate at the Boston legal firm Hale & Dorr after graduating with honors from Yale College. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School.
Her father worked as an account executive for Thomson-McKinnon Securities Inc. in Dayton Beach, Fla. And her mother, Joanne Springer Perry, was a mathematics professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
The couple had three children; older twin daughters Ruth and Pamela, and son Harry.
However, Summers married English professor Elisa New in December 2005 after dating for roughly four years. Elisa had three kids from a previous marriage (Yael, Orli, and Maya).
He currently resides in Brookline, Massachusetts with his partner.
Larry Summers Net Worth 2022- How Rich Is The Economist?
Larry Summer is estimated to have a net worth of $40 million. Summers has amassed a fortune during his time as President of Harvard University and Chief Economist for the World Bank.
He began his career as a professor of economics at Harvard. He departed in 1991 to become the World Bank’s Chief Economist. In 1993, he was appointed Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, reporting to the Clinton administration.
He was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in 1995 and Secretary of the Treasury in 1999. Summers also served as Harvard University’s 27th President from 2001 until 2006.
Summers was appointed as a part-time managing director of the New York-based hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co. on October 19, 2006. He was offered a salary and additional remuneration of $5 million over a 16-month period.
In addition to that, Summers received $2.7 million in speaking fees from major financial organizations, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers, during the same period.
He declared assets of around $900,000 and debts of $500,000 when he was nominated for Treasury Secretary by President Clinton in 1999.
When he returned to the Obama administration in 2009, he declared a net worth of between $17 million and $39 million.
Summers was named director of the National Economic Council upon Barack Obama’s inauguration as president in January 2009.
He received $5 million from the hedge fund D. E. Shaw and $2.7 million in speaking fees from Wall Street firms that received government bailout funds.