Summers: Obama administration didn’t fully understand the economic challenges they inherited

October 12th, 2009 Summers: Bush era set stage for economic troublesWASHINGTON — A top White House official issued a robust defense of the Obama administration's recovery policies on Monday with a pointed critique of economic conditions and fiscal policies during the presidency of George W. Bush. In a letter to House Republican leader John Boehner, White House chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers said President Barack Obama "is committed to not repeating the fiscal mistakes of the last eight years." Summers' letter was in response to correspondence Obama received last week from Boehner and other top House Republicans, who complained that the administration was having no impact on unemployment and recommended a series of tax breaks to invigorate the economy.

September 18th, 2009 Summers: Troubled firms should be allowed to failWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top economic adviser on Friday pressed for new restrictions on the biggest and most intertwined financial institutions and said the industry should not count on government to rescue them from crisis again. "Our financial system will not be fail-safe until it is safe for failure," said Lawrence Summers, the director of Obama's National Economic Council.

September 11th, 2009 Summers concedes risks of ending support for banksWASHINGTON — A top economic adviser to President Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged the risks of reining in too quickly the emergency programs put in place to battle the financial crisis. "We will not make the mistake of prematurely declaring victory or prematurely withdrawing public support for the flow of credit," said Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council.

August 3rd, 2009 Obama officials: Taxes may rise to pay health careWASHINGTON — Two of President Barack Obama's economic heavyweights said middle-class taxes might have to go up to pare budget deficits or to pay for the proposed overhaul of the nation's health care system. The tough talk from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers on Sunday capped a week that brought rare good news for the economy: The worst recession in the United States since World War II could be on the verge of ending.

August 3rd, 2009 White House says no to tax hike for middle classWASHINGTON — In a rebuke to the Treasury secretary, the White House said Monday that President Barack Obama remains opposed to any tax hike for families earning up to $250,000. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs restated the assurance after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers appeared Sunday to leave open the possibility Obama would tap middle-class Americans' income to reduce the deficit or help pay for a health insurance overhaul.

August 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's treasury secretary said Sunday he cannot rule out higher taxes to help tame an exploding budget deficit, and his chief economic adviser would not dismiss raising them on middle-class Americans as part of a health care overhaul. As the White House sought to balance campaign rhetoric with governing, officials appeared willing to extend unemployment benefits.

July 17th, 2009 Summers: Economy has moved back from catastropheWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top economic adviser has new cause for optimism. Back in January, Lawrence Summers said, Google searches for "economic depression" had increased by a factor of four.

July 17th, 2009 Summers: Wall Street firms better thanks to gov'tWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top economic adviser says the improved health displayed by some large Wall Street firms would have been impossible without government help. Lawrence Summers, the director of the White House's National Economic Council, said Friday that the ability of certain large banks to pay the Treasury back for large infusions of taxpayer money is a positive and favorable sign.

July 10th, 2009 Obama says G-8 summit leaders tackled tough issuesL'AQUILA, Italy — President Barack Obama is hailing "candid and spirited discussions" at the G-8 summit, saying the world must come to grips with chronic problems like economic stagnation and climate change. Summing up three days of talks with fellow leaders in Italy, Obama said he and others have agreed that a full recovery from the global economic recession is "still a ways off." He also noted that he and the leaders of other industrialized nations had productive discussions about limiting the proliferation of nuclear weapon systems.

June 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is fully committed to implementing the landmark India-US civil nuclear deal, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has declared noting that it had "removed the final barrier to broader cooperation between us." The deal provided a framework for economic and technical cooperation between the two countries and allowed them to move beyond concerns about the status of India's nuclear programme, she said at the US-India Business Council's (USI BC) Synergies Summit here Wednesday. Noting that the status of India's nuclear programme had "dominated our relationship for much of the last decade", Clinton said the completion of the deal marked the culmination of the "second stage" in the history of India-US relations.

June 12th, 2009 Summers says financial rescues were 'necessity'WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's economic adviser says the administration's efforts to rescue banks, insurance companies and car makers were done out of "necessity not choice." White House National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers' remarks come after government bailouts have put billions of taxpayer dollars at risk. Summers says the president "did not run ...

April 30th, 2009 Transportation secretary hints at aid for airlinesWASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday he thinks the Obama administration will seek financial aid for airlines to pay for equipment onboard planes that will be needed to move to a satellite-based air traffic control system. LaHood, speaking at a luncheon of the Aero Club of Washington, said he expects the White House to "rally some dollars" in response to a request from airline industry officials who met with the administration's top economic adviser, Lawrence Summers.

April 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama marked 100 days in office by citing the progress his administration has made in tackling the nation's economic problems but cautioned that more needed to be done. 'Now, after a hundred days, I am pleased with the progress we've made, but I'm not satisfied,' Obama said at a Townhall meeting Wednesday in Arnold, Missouri.

April 26th, 2009 Summers: Fiat-Chrysler talks still up in the airWASHINGTON — White House economic adviser Larry Summers said Sunday the Obama administration is holding out hope that Chrysler can stay out of bankruptcy court. Chrysler LLC is surviving on government loans and has until Thursday to work out a joint venture with Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA.

March 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's top economic adviser wants the United States to lead a global effort to improve regulatory standards as the world grapples with its worst economic crisis in decacdes. 'Globally, the United States must lead a levelling-up of regulatory standards, not as has happened all too often in the recent past, trying to win a race to the bottom,' Lawrence Summers, director of Obama's National Economic Council, said at a Brookings Institution forum.