美联储主席提名之争：怎样捍卫萨默斯

    2007年11月，在贝尔斯登（Bear Stearns）倒闭前四个月，他呼吁决策层“警醒一场危机可能正在深化”。他还说：“3个月前，还有理由预计次贷危机只是一场金融系统内的大事件，不是可能威胁到整体经济增长模式的大事件......如果不采取比现在更有力的政策应对...就存在这样一种风险，次贷危机的负面影响将一直延续到2010年及以后。”

    -- 对于外界担心萨默斯可能过于“亲企业”，奥巴马可能会谈到，他和萨默斯两人都担忧收入差距扩大以及普通美国人的社会阶层流动性下降。今年早些时候，同样是在哈佛的那个论坛上，萨默斯还对听众表示，“不平等加剧，社会流动性下降”，还说，富有家庭子女和贫困家庭子女进好大学的能力都不如30年前，这一点“令人震惊”。

    -- 女权人士不仅支持任命耶伦为美联储首位女当家这样的历史性事件，还将萨默斯视为男性至上主义者，依据是他在任哈佛校长时对科技界女性发表的争议性评论，以及他与奥巴马经济顾问克里斯蒂娜•罗默之间的冲突（根据《华盛顿邮报》的报道，罗默质疑萨默斯的管理技能）。为回应这种看法，白宫可能会依赖Facebook (FB)首席运营官谢丽尔•桑德伯格，她视萨默斯为职业生涯的导师，萨默斯在世界银行（World Bank）和美国财政部工作时一直把她带在身边。（另一位在职业生涯中得到过萨默斯支持的有影响力女性是：Facebook全球公共政策副总裁马恩•列维）。后女权主义畅销书《向前一步》（Lean In)的作者桑德伯格在这方面公开支持萨默斯。

    如果奥巴马总统真的选萨默斯，白宫将必须应对和消除外界的质疑，以便为萨默斯赢得60张参议院投票，--而且，为此他可能还需要获得共和党人的支持。（财富中文网）

    译者：早稻米

    And in November of 2007, four months before the collapse of Bear Stearns, he called on policy makers to "wake up to the dangers of a deepening crisis." He added: "Three months ago it was reasonable to expect that the subprime credit crisis would be a financially significant event but not one that would threaten the overall pattern of economic growth ... Without stronger policy responses than have been observed to date ... there is the risk that the adverse impacts will be felt for the rest of this decade and beyond."

    -- To concerns that Summers is too pro-business, expect the President to talk about their shared concerns over a widening income gap and decreasing social mobility for average Americans. Our "level of inequality and social mobility has deteriorated," Summers told the same Harvard audience earlier this year, calling it "stunning" that the ability of both a rich child and a poor child to go to a good college is smaller than it was 30 years ago.

    -- Feminists not only support an historical appointment of Yellen as the first female Fed chief, but also view Summers as sexist, based on his controversial women-in-science remarks as Harvard President and his clashes with fellow Obama economic adviser Christina Romer (In thePost story, Romer questions Summers' management skills). To counter that perception, the White House will likely call upon Facebook (FB) Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, who counts Summers as a mentor in a career that put her at his side at the World Bank and the Treasury Department. (Another powerful woman Summers supported in her career: Facebook Global Public Policy vice president Marne Levine). Sandberg, author of the post-feminist best-sellerLean In, has already publicly defended Summers on this score.

    If the President Obama does tap Summers, the White House will have to mount a defense that gets him to 60 votes in the Senate -- and for that, he's still likely to need support from Republicans.