Lawrence Summers on the Economic Crisis and Recovery

Lawrence Summers on the Economic Crisis and Recovery
Brookings, Mar 17, 2009

On March 13, the Brookings Institution hosted Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House National Economic Council, for a discussion of the Obama administration’s economic program and the prospects for the American economy.

Dr. Summers was appointed Director of the National Economic Council by President Obama on November 24, 2008. Before joining the White House in January, Dr. Summers was the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University. He served as the 27th president of Harvard University from July 2001 until June 2006. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury following his earlier service as Deputy and Under Secretary of the Treasury and as Chief Economist of the World Bank. Summers has taught economics at Harvard and MIT. Lawrence Summers received his B.S. from MIT and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He served as a Brookings trustee from November 2002 – January 2009.

Brookings Senior Fellow Martin Neil Baily provided introductory remarks. After the program, Dr. Summers took audience questions.


Transcript

LARRY SUMMERS: Our single most important priority is bringing about economic recovery and ensuring that the next economic expansion, unlike its recent predecessors, is fundamentally sound and not driven by financial excess. Without robust and sustained economic expansion, we will not achieve any other important national goal. We will not be able to project strength globally or reduce poverty locally. We will not expand access to higher education or make health care more affordable. And we will not be able to create opportunities for new small businesses to thrive, or most importantly, to raise incomes for middle-class families.

So today I come here to explain and discuss the rationale behind the President's Recovery Program and our strategy for long-term growth. Our problems were not made in a day or a month or a year, and they will not be solved quickly. But there is one ineluctable lesson of the history of financial crises: they all end. I am confident that with strong and sound policies the President has put forward and the passage of time, we will restore economic growth, regain financial stability and find opportunity in this moment of crisis to assure that our future prosperity rests on a sound and sustainable foundation.

View Full Transcript »