Larry Summers is in the news lately for his association with Emmanuel Goldstein: “Larry Summers steps back from public commitments, ‘deeply ashamed’ by Epstein revelations” (Politico).
Was there anyone ridiculing him 20 years ago? Yes! See “Women in Science” from this very server:
Summers was deservedly castigated [fired from Harvard for musings regarding why there weren’t more mathematicians and physicists identifying as “women”] , but not for the right reasons. He claimed to be giving a comprehensive list of reasons why there weren’t more women reaching the top jobs in the sciences. Yet Summers, an economist, left one out: Adjusted for IQ, quantitative skills, and working hours, jobs in science are the lowest paid in the United States. This article explores this fourth possible explanation for the dearth of women in science: They found better jobs.
Is “early ridiculer” credit a thing?
Separately, remember that Larry Summers and Claudine Gay have nothing left of their careers other than lifetime jobs and monthly paychecks that will keep flowing regardless of how senile and incompetent they become.
Phil, I so enjoyed your post-thank you!
It reminded me of so many treasured memories and times with the inimitables (Larry and Jeffrey) in Jeffrey’s office at Harvard, mostly late at night, where he was a regular guest. Of course, a few in particular stand out to me because they were formative in my Education at Harvard, where Larry was one of my key Mentors, and Jeffrey was my Wing Man. Recall that Larry liked affectionate code names for folks, and mine was Bendover. As a young graduate student, Larry schooled me that Competence in one’s field was of utmost importance, and that is when I decided that my destiny was to become the Leading Global Scholar of Plagiarism. Upon reading my PhD dissertation, both Larry and Jeffrey commended me with “Good Job.” And, soon I was President of Harvard. What a journey!