Summers To Leave White House

The White House announced today that National Economic Council Director Larry Summers will step down at the end of the year. Summers, assistant to the president for Economic Policy, will return to teach at Harvard University.

In a statement today, Obama praised Summers for his service.

“I will always be grateful that at a time of great peril for our country, a man of Larry’s brilliance, experience and judgment was willing to answer the call and lead our economic team.  Over the past two years,  he has helped guide us from the depths of  the worst recession since the 1930s to renewed growth.  And while we have much work ahead to repair the damage done by the recession, we are on a better path thanks in no small measure to Larry’s wise counsel.  We will miss him here at the White House, but I look forward to soliciting  his continued advice and his counsel on an informal basis, and appreciate that he has agreed to serve as a member of the President’s Economic Advisory Board.”

Said Summers, “I will miss working with the President and his team on the daily challenges of economic policy making. I’m looking forward to returning to Harvard to teach and write about the economic fundamentals of job creation and stable finance as well as the integration of rising and developing countries into the global system.”

Summers becomes the third prominent member of the president’s economic team to leave, joining recently resigned OMB Director Peter Orszag and Council of Economic Advisors Chief Christina Romer.