"VA*NI*TAS", or How Larry Summers Screwed Harvard's Endowment

[drwex]

AND why the F**K did Obama put that man in charge of anything more important than banging himself on the head with a mop handle in the public square as an object lesson to every other arrogant, overweaning, sexist, white male pissant, anyway?

http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2009/07/va-ni.html

I feel sorry for my friends who no longer work at Harvard as that University has been forced to cut back. I feel some measure of schadenfreude as an alum of a rival higher ed school that has managed its endowment more wisely. (Sloan > HBS. Suck it.) But mostly I fear that the damage Summers has done so far will be exceeded by the damage he is yet capable of doing.

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Even MIT had to cut back, alas, but not as severely as Harvard did. And I think part of our cutting back was, "you know, we should really be more careful about spending even if the economy gets better." Which, IMO, is smart.

[(Anonymous)]

as usual, you fail to understand anything beyond the first line or two. typical. you let your hubris get in the way.

[points.livejournal.com]

Look, Wex and I might not always agree (and sometimes, strongly so), but at least I feel secure enough to disagree with him to his face. Either put a name to your comment(s), stop bloody reading, or more preferably, just shut the hell up. Your own conceits combined with the internet is no excuse to be an arse.

Thanks Points

[drwex]

...but I leave anon commenting on for a reason. If people want to use it to insult me that's OK.

In fact, I've got a moderately good layman's understanding of credit default swaps, and Epicurean does a very good job of explaining in pretty plain language why the bet Harvard's endowment made was nothing short of insane, and certainly contrary to prudent fiscal policy. If anonymous wants to elaborate, then I'll be happy to go at it.

[quezz.livejournal.com]

I would argue two things about Summers' current position:

1) Summer had no committee to speak of when handling Harvard's finances. Now he does, and I hope Obama and the other staff will know when to cuff and cut him.

2) I strongly suspect that much of Summers' "bungling" was risk-taking behaviors that were encouraged by Harvard's board of trustees. As the article suggests, Harvard has been famous for taking such financial risks for a really long time now, especially when it comes to expansion projects. This is no excuse for Summers' behavior, but I'd argue it stemmed from pack mentality rather than any maverickism on Summers' part, if I may employ the overused terminology.

3) Yay! Harvard can't expand into my neighborhood now! :) This has totally screwed up Harvard's plans for Allston -Brighton, and throws the construction of a new Mass Pike exit right through my neighborhood into the air. In a lot of ways, the financial crisis is changing the character of some neighborhoods in Boston for the better, and stabilizing others. This is a Good Thing (tm).

I suppose the silver lining

[drwex]

...does include more people to keep Summers in check, but he's still in a very important position and I still think he's one of the three worst appointments Obama made. We shouldn't have to keep such an unrepentant Mammonite in check - we should have a real leader there.

(I'd also bet money that Harvard's plans have merely been delayed. Harvard has a long memory, and recessions go away eventually.)

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

Every single qualm I have about the Obama administration so far can be summed up in the two simple words "Larry Summers." The man has been a textbook case of falling upwards for, as far as I could ever determine, his entire fucking career, and I shudder to think what might be next for him (and us) if the economy somehow manages to stumble into a recovery in spite of his best efforts.