Lawrence Summers is concerned capitalism may be "permanently damaged" by Donald Trump's negotiations with Carrier to keep its plant in Indiana. A bit hyperbole there, Larry?
Larry does not do well with questions:
“...some student asked if he [Larry Summers] didn’t have essentially the same relationship with Bob Rubin. Wasn’t Summer’s opposition to capital controls just a sop to Wall Street banks, which wanted to recoup their risky investments regardless of how doing so affected the country in which they had invested?― Richard Bradley, Harvard Rules: Lawrence Summers and the Battle for the World's Most Powerful University
“Summers just lost it,” said one audience member, a business school student. “he looked at the person and said, “you don’t know what you’re talking about and how dare you ask this question of the president of Harvard?”
Mr. Summers only selectively speaks out against crony capitalism. While he was sleeping during those Obama cabinet meetings, he might have missed the many Obama crony capitalist deals cut with insurance companies, Solyndra and the Obama Administration's signature crony capitalist nightmare, Obamacare.
Hey, crony capitalism is bad regardless of which party initiates it. Sarah Palin (who is a Trump supporter) pointed that out about the Carrier matter. Mark Levin also voiced his opposition.
While I understand that the Carrier matter was more about media messaging and image (which by itself is not necessarily a bad thing) than substantive economic change, honest critics are correct that we want to promote conditions which create an environment where business flourishes across the board and productivity increases for those companies who take advantage of that. But if you are going to be a champion against crony capitalism, at least be consistently against it.
While arguably not quite as bad as Geraldo Rivera and John Kasich's recent asshatery, for his somnolent hypocrisy, Larry Summers wins Asshat of the Day.
Instapundit: Strange new respect in 3, 2, 1..., Where Bernie went wrong, the Queen of Crony Capitalism, let's not forget the EpiPen
Legal Insurection: Carrier Deal Revealed and CNN's Selective Outrage
DRUDGE REPORT: Silicon Sultans Frozen Out of Whitehouse
Jonah Goldberg: Legitimate warning
Well played, sir.
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