Lawrence Summers on Economic Crisis & Conservative Ideology

[ToSaveANationDotCom]

Isn't it ironic that in the first 4 min he tried to explain why raising taxes on wealthier people isn't always a bad idea, but that his explanation also actually supports raising taxes on the poor who don't pay any income taxes at all? Listen from 2:00 to 4:20 again but think about the working poor. Raise their taxes so they will work harder to make more money to pay the extra taxes. Viola! - more tax revenue! Why not just raise taxes across the board? How can anyone take this guy seriously?

[ToSaveANationDotCom]

And what about exempt employees that don't get paid overtime? How do they choose to work harder to make more money so they can pay more taxes? Do they simply find another job (cause there are just so many available now)?! So Summer says raising taxes could be ok because people will just go get another job and work even harder so they can pay even more taxes, but not raise their own standard of living at all? Is this the paradise Summers would create for us? Land of opportunity indeed...

[ToSaveANationDotCom]

Most people can't just choose to "work harder", make 33% more and still make their planned needs. If it's so easy then every American would already be doing it! But most Americans aren't because it doesn't work that way. We can't just always work 20 hours overtime every week, your company couldn't afford it. Patently false theory. And people wonder why things are so bad economically. With people with theories like this advising our politicians for decades it should be obvious...

[urparanoia]

@ToSaveANationDotCom -His theories are excuses, a way to defend his beliefs.Prior to the election of Reagan a new car loan was paid off in 3 yrs and most moms stayed at home.Since that time those at the top have on average seen a 280% increase in income while those at the bottom got 18%. Both Reagan and Bush lowered taxes on those at the top and the economy became worse. Repubs are still selling the lie to the small minded that "trickle down economics" works when it's obvious this it doesn't

[sentimoko]

ITT: Retards

Oh man, it's gotta suck to be an uneducated moron who has to kill and hunt his own dinner. Yeah. That would be you. That is, 90% of the people commenting on this video. You don't understand shit. Everything he says is logical and if you don't agree with him, no wonder your economy is fucked. How about coming with proper arguments instead of saying "LOL HES FAT AND UGLTY LOLMO ASOMDOANDHYABSDOB". Fuck off.

[urparanoia]

@sentimoko -Summers was one of the group who opposed Wesley Born's attempt to regulate OTC Derivatives.The guy worked forthe O administration but his beliefs are conservative.Born warned that OTC unregulated Derivatives could cause a financial meltdown and almost 10 yrs to the day it happened. Greenspan also fought her efforts. In the fall of 2008 when the crap hit the fan Greenspan admitted to congress "the conservative ideology I believed in for decades is flawed and caused the fin. meltdown"

[dsheacpa]

i get his strategy his bores us within 30 seconds so we can't possibly continue to listen. How can somebody so dull contribute so mightily to our destruction. Touche Mr. Summers.

[DevilsFan973]

scumbag

[BikersFromIreland]

He is UGLY, FAT, JEWISH, AND A CROOK.

[fistofthenorthstar89]

How did you lose the Harvard Endowment Larry?

[Garret00074]

The fury of this recession rages on. Consumers are being crushed as foreclosures rise, manufacturing shrinks, and the economy sheds jobs, all at record rates. The worst financial crisis in two generations has erased $14.5 trillion, or 33% of the value of the worlds companies, since September 15, according to Bloomberg, and we haven't hit bottom yet.

[Nintendomanwill]

@Garret00074

You suffer because you support morons like Summers. Taxation destroys the economy by divorcing people's income from their labour and removing savings from capitalists who wouldl otherwise use them for greater profit ie helping consumers more than giving to welfare leeches who push prices up for workers.

The worst financial crisis in generation was ending with the correction of malinvestment in 2008 with higher int rates to induce sustainable structures of production/more savings.

[AbeLincolnStolMyNgrs]

@Nintendomanwill

ha ha evil jew larry fat-jew summers yakcs bout incentives on one side of his mouth while talking keynes on the other

no he's back to harvard to take up his old job as fake arm-chair economist

[wmatthews88]

Or our society will become bleak and we will faulter. China will seize the vacum of power left vacent from a rich America and we know what it is like to be dependent on another nation. I don't know about you, but the idea of a Chinese hegemonic power scares the shit out of me. Not because Chinese people are evil, but because their institutions espouse non-democratic ideals. Hopefully, for the worlds sake the Chinese people will institute a liberal democracy. Cross your fingers.

[longerino]

@wmatthews88 You haven't a clue, your fancy words don't impress me. Read a book.

[wmatthews88]

I believe that it is either sink or swim in terms of entitlement spending in this country. We are going to have to go back to hard knox. Our standard of living is going to go down and so is the goody handouts from the government. There has to be tough love concerning Social Security and Medicare. Not only to get back to par where we are paying out what we are taking in, but inversely paying out less than what we are taking in. We need to stick together and lend another a hand.

[wmatthews88]

I hate to be that annoying know it all prick who takes a guys comments from one period and applies it to current times, but is he advising Obama or is he there for decoration. The most important point he made in which I completely agree as a conservative republican is his asseration that budget deficits lead to shitty futures, contradicts what the Obama administration is taking part in. We could be seeing the collapse of a hegemonic American Superpower.

[longerino]

@wmatthews88 no, actually he will only be advising Obama in the months to come

[JohnnySioux]

I wish he would quit waving his hands around like that. It's very disconcerting.

[amotisi8859]

this guy looked like a fool on meet the press

[sweetsmile493]

Okay is there any video in which Timothy Geithner is actually TALKING? He is really quiet... I mean, if he is going to be a treasury secretary, hes going to have to speak a lot about the financial crisis... etc..

[TheBeatlesToday]

my bff maya is larry summers stepdaughter. her mom is lisa new, english professor at harvard. she talked 2 obama on the phone n is gonna meet him at the inauguration. she soooo psyched!

[macd816]

nobody gives a shit

[canttuchdis]

his argument is based on assumptions. how the hell can people suddenly go from a 100k job to a 200k job, it's not that easy. if i could do that, i would have a 1million dollar salary, because i buy 5 ferrarri's every year.

[ak2479]

So then you should agree with the converse of that - that a tax hike on the rich shouldn't necessarily push them to work less.

[redduckinpond]

You people do realize that suggesting that we the tax payer work harder in order to sustain our levels of consumption as a basis of economic policy?

Why not go back to serf labour? That seemed to work!

He is also contradicting what's actually OBSERVABLE in the world's economies.

[foosickness]

His whole family are Economists...hands down full stop..no more questions..His dad, Robert Summers is a nobel laureate.

One crazy family...isnt it..

Go Summers

[DinaStrange]

he is so smart, seriously...

[jjrglobal]

Holy shit, this guy was treasury secretary? He does realize that economic changes are not immediate. You can't cut taxes one day and the next day say "look at what my tax cuts have done" That's moronic. It takes years for tax plans to show effects. I believe you may very well be the solid proof needed that we are in fact ruled by idiots. Also, Clinton was in office during the most important and profitable innovation in human history, the internet.Comparing the 90's to any era is insane.

[Zeldovich]

if the benefits of tax cuts are years down the road, then such benefits are obviously temporally discounted.

[jjrglobal]

I should have said tax increases, cutting taxes can be seen fairly quickly.

[Almangour]

Clinton was in office in good times. It was good luck, not good policy, behind the 90s growth.

[ak2479]

I like your conviction. Now show me your evidence.

[amotisi8859]

growth is an illusion of the 90's...there was no deficit...this lack of growth basically gave way to the emergence of china and india in the early 21st century.

[ronsmoss]

It is my understanding that the top 5% of taxpayers have an average income approximately $400k, while the other 95% have income of $18k. This would mean that if we changed the tax rate on income over $400k from whatever it is now to a flat 50%, we could eliminate all tax on income under $400, and we would double the nation's annual income.

[lumajs]

While Prof Summers generally supports progressive taxes, one of his main points was that what he write is exactly what wouldn't happen.

The people with income under $400k would be exactly like the people named Summers in his metaphor (around 8:00). People would simply decide to reduce their income below $400k and avoid taxes. That would mean that the taxes from the $400k-earning people would be much less than you indicate - not enough to cover the budget.

[waltermh111]

sounds smarter then i am used to hearing. Something must be wrong here, though i cant tell what, lol

[monymizer]

Thanks for posting! I love Larry Summers. He is one of my favorites!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

[Thomas13Ray]

TRUTH

[danoking69]

TRUTH!!! sHARE!!!!