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[[Image:‪SaveTheWorldCommittee3 flat220.jpg‬|thumb|right|220px]]'''Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers''' was a primary architect of the modern U.S. financial system, which collapsed in 2008 leaving some 8 million Americans unemployed and destroying some $13 trillion in wealth, according to the GAO. Summers served multiple roles in the U.S. Treasury in the 1990's under President Clinton and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin (previously of Goldman-Sachs). In those roles he supported the repeal of Glass-Steagall, which lead to the creation of "too big to fail" banks, and fought the regulation of derivatives which later played a key role in the financial crisis (see more below). Ultimately he became Secretary of the Treasury under Clinton 1999-2001. He also held the position as President of Harvard 2001-2006 during the administration of George W. Bush, a position he left after a no-confidence vote by the staff and after losing some $2 billion in Harvard endowment funds to a derivatives deal gone bad.<ref>Felix Salmon, “Annals of rank hubris, Larry Summers edition, [http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009/07/23/annals-of-rank-hubris-larry-summers-edition/] Reuters, July 22, 2009. </ref> He would later become the Director of President Obama's [[National Economic Council]], an economic policy agency within the executive branch of the U.S. government from 2008-2010, and play a key role in bailing out the U.S. banking system.<ref>News release, President –Elect Barack Obama[http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/geithner_summers_among_key_economic_team_members_announced_today/], November 24, 2008. </ref> In 2013, he is a top candidate for the position of Federal Reserve Chairman.

==Role in financial crisis and bailout==

Summers became Treasury Secretary in July 1999, receiving a congratulatory letter from Ken Lay, the President of Enron Corporation, addressed "Dear Larry." In his response to "Ken" on May 25, 1999, Summers included a handwritten PS: "I'll keep my eye on power deregulation and energy-market infrastructure issues." Read the letters [http://www.citizen.org/cmep/article_redirect.cfm?ID=9391 here].<ref>Public Citizen, [http://www.citizen.org/cmep/article_redirect.cfm?ID=9391 Enron CEO Ken Lay's Correspondence with Treasury Secretaries], collection of correspondence, accessed September 10, 2013.</ref>

Summers pushed for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall, which was created after the Great Depression to wall off traditional commercial banking activity from the Wall Street casino. The repeal allowed commercial banks to merge with investment banks, securities firms and insurance companies, creating "too big to fail" behemoths and unleashing an era of reckless speculation. On November 5, 1999 Summers hailed the passage of the repeal: "Today Congress voted to update the rules that have governed financial services since the Great Depression and replace them with a system for the 21st Century. This historic legislation will better enable American companies to compete in the new economy." Read the statement [http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/05/business/congress-passes-wide-ranging-bill-easing-bank-laws.html here].<ref>Stephen Labaton, [http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/05/business/congress-passes-wide-ranging-bill-easing-bank-laws.html CONGRESS PASSES WIDE-RANGING BILL EASING BANK LAWS], ''The New York Times'', November 5, 1999.</ref>

===Previous Affiliations===

*Director, [[Teach for America]]

*Member, Global Development Program Advisory Panel, [[Gates Foundation]] <ref>[http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/Announcements/Announce-070919.htm Program Advisory Panels Announced by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation], Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, accessed December 9, 2007.</ref>

*Member of the UNCTAD Panel of Eminent Persons. <ref>Lawrence H. Summers, [http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/lsummer/fullbio.htm “Biography”], Harvard, accessed March 26, 2010.</ref>

*Board of Governors, [[Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation]] <ref>[http://www.broadfoundation.org/foundation_report.html 2009/10 Annual Report], Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation, accessed 4 February 2011.</ref>

==Contact details==

*Arianna Huffington, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/larry-summers-brilliant-m_b_178956.html “Larry Summers: Brilliant Mind, Toxic Ideas”], Huffington Post, March 25, 2009.