The Common Room: Larry Summers and His Public Speaking Gigs

Monday, July 13, 2009

Larry Summers and His Public Speaking Gigs

There were a couple of interesting tidbits hiding in this ESPN article by Gregg Easterbrook. Here's one:

Goldman Sachs paid Summers $135,000 for a single talk, the kind of speaking fee normally reserved for ex-presidents. Such an absurd fee, conveyed when Summers was known to be consulting with likely future president Barack Obama, sure looks like a polite gratuity conveyed in the hopes of future favors. The Wall Street companies hiring Summers to speak probably didn't want to hear him drone on; more likely, they wanted his good will if he got back into a high government post. (Goldman Sachs has received at least $13 billion in bailout money, via AIG.) How can Summers possibly be allowed to participate in decision making involving Goldman Sachs, or any financial firm he's received a "speaking fee" from?

Late that Friday night, the White House also disclosed that Summers, a former president of Harvard, received $587,000 in teaching salary from Harvard in 2008. This surely makes Summers the highest-paid professor in world history. How could Summers possibly have done $5.2 million worth of work for a hedge fund, and traveled the country to give 40 speeches, and done $587,000 worth of teaching at Harvard? Tuesday Morning Quarterback reiterates a longstanding cause: Harvard alums, stop giving to Harvard! Give to any of the hundreds of fine colleges where your money can make a difference. Don't give to Harvard only to have your money lavished on a wealthy "professor" who's busy somewhere else doing something else. Elocution note: Summers might be a highly paid dud as a speaker, but TMQ heard Obama political adviser David Axelrod speak last week at Colorado College, and Axelrod was terrific -- funny, charming, substantive. How much was Axelrod paid for his speech? Nothing! Maybe there is a law of nature: The more a speaker is paid the worse the speech, and vice versa.

Maybe it was the Good Ol' Boys' way of rewarding Summers for getting fired from Harvard for his remarks about women and science. Wouldn't you like to be fired that way?

There were a couple of interesting tidbits hiding in this ESPN article by Gregg Easterbrook. Here's one:

Goldman Sachs paid Summers $135,000 for a single talk, the kind of speaking fee normally reserved for ex-presidents. Such an absurd fee, conveyed when Summers was known to be consulting with likely future president Barack Obama, sure looks like a polite gratuity conveyed in the hopes of future favors. The Wall Street companies hiring Summers to speak probably didn't want to hear him drone on; more likely, they wanted his good will if he got back into a high government post. (Goldman Sachs has received at least $13 billion in bailout money, via AIG.) How can Summers possibly be allowed to participate in decision making involving Goldman Sachs, or any financial firm he's received a "speaking fee" from?

Late that Friday night, the White House also disclosed that Summers, a former president of Harvard, received $587,000 in teaching salary from Harvard in 2008. This surely makes Summers the highest-paid professor in world history. How could Summers possibly have done $5.2 million worth of work for a hedge fund, and traveled the country to give 40 speeches, and done $587,000 worth of teaching at Harvard? Tuesday Morning Quarterback reiterates a longstanding cause: Harvard alums, stop giving to Harvard! Give to any of the hundreds of fine colleges where your money can make a difference. Don't give to Harvard only to have your money lavished on a wealthy "professor" who's busy somewhere else doing something else. Elocution note: Summers might be a highly paid dud as a speaker, but TMQ heard Obama political adviser David Axelrod speak last week at Colorado College, and Axelrod was terrific -- funny, charming, substantive. How much was Axelrod paid for his speech? Nothing! Maybe there is a law of nature: The more a speaker is paid the worse the speech, and vice versa.

Maybe it was the Good Ol' Boys' way of rewarding Summers for getting fired from Harvard for his remarks about women and science. Wouldn't you like to be fired that way?