Lawrence Summers

“Many children are taught to believe in God. I came to believe in the power of systems analysis.”

“The dramatic modernization of the Asian economies ranks alongside the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution as one of the most important developments in economic history.”

“We are inheriting the worst financial system since the Depression. We're inheriting a situation - when people go back and study major banking crises a quarter century from now, the one that America developed in 2007 and 2008 is going to be one of those crises.”

“The availability of private insurance provides tremendous insulation for millions of individuals.”

“I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted.”

“In politics, as in poetry, it is sometimes true that it is darkest before dawn.”

“If you look at the history of the American capital market, there's probably no innovation more important than the idea of generally accepted accountancy principles.”

“It was wrong to allow Stalin to shape the European landscape of the 20th century. It would be even more wrong to let him shape the landscape of the 21st century.”

“It certainly was difficult to sell NAFTA because it's always difficult to sell open markets.”

“You can't have a situation in which companies proceed on a permanent basis relying only on cash from the government.”

“Global capital markets pose the same kinds of problems that jet planes do. They are faster, more comfortable, and they get you where you are going better. But the crashes are much more spectacular.”

“It used to be said that when the U.S. sneezed, the world caught a cold. The opposite is equally true today.”

“Blaming speculators as a response to financial crisis goes back at least to the Greeks. It's almost always the wrong response.”

“Now is the time for us to strike. We must strengthen our foothold in Asia, to ensure no nation overtakes us.”

“Start with the idea that you can't repeal the laws of economics. Even if they are inconvenient.”

“I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to it.”

“Contagion has become very much a phenomenon, and it's a phenomenon of globalization.”

“I promise you that there are a lot of people involved in various kinds of retail activities who think they have a crucial role in the economy, and they're right.”

“But ultimately what I was impressed by during my years in government was how much the intellectual climate and the prevailing intellectual notions constrained and represented the universe within which the discourse took place.”

“There are children who are working in textile businesses in Asia who would be prostitutes on the streets if they did not have those jobs.”