Summers avoided substantive accountability for his role in the crisis

Evidence

‘Inside Job had essentially all its facts wrong,’ replies Summers, unbelievably, resorting to an argument based on timing: because he didn’t work in financial services before he was Treasury secretary, and because he waited a few years before taking that job at DE Shaw, Summers says it’s ‘absurd’ to blame the revolving door for any of his actions. It’s weird that Summers, who loves debate, generally refuses to sit down in some public forum and answer serious, informed questions about the legacy of his tenure at Treasury; it might well be that this single interview is the closest we’ll ever get. And on the basis of this interview, it’s clear that, far from apologizing for his actions, Summers is going Full Bluster, denying any culpability, and choosing instead to violently reject and belittle any suggestion that he holds any responsibility for the crisis at all. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 2108

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the broader revolving-door theme developed across the book and to the documentary ‘Inside Job’ critiques. — connects to: Summers denied his financial-sector payments conditioned crisis policy. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 558; Summers evaded serious banking reform questions by invoking socialism — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 14

Broader Connections

• Summers evaded serious banking reform questions by invoking socialism #exemplifies (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 14
• Summers denied his financial-sector payments conditioned crisis policy. #qualifies (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 558