Portrait of Larry Summers
Center · Economist · Active today

Larry Summers

American economist and former US Treasury Secretary

See how United States compares →

Served as Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton and as Harvard’s president, and is known for centrist, market-friendly views and blunt warnings about inflation.

Larry Summers sits in the near the center part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: slightly free market and centered on liberty and authority. The clearest positions are strongly institutional on institutions, leaning globalist on nation and leaning tech-optimist on technology. The profile is close to the middle on liberty and authority and environment.

Read more about Larry Summers on Wikipedia →

Where Larry Summers sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomySlightly free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityCentered on liberty and authority
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureSlightly progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentCentered on environment
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceSlightly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsStrongly institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionSlightly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismSlightly interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Larry Summers

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing President of France, 1974 to 198199%Bob Hawke Prime Minister of Australia, 1983 to 199199%Ben Bernanke American economist and former Federal Reserve chairman99%Olaf Scholz Chancellor of Germany, 2021 to 202599%Felipe González Prime Minister of Spain, 1982 to 199699%Fernando Henrique Cardoso President of Brazil, 1995 to 200399%Francis Fukuyama American political scientist99%Gerhard Schröder Chancellor of Germany, 1998 to 200599%

People furthest from Larry Summers

Leo Tolstoy Russian novelist and moral thinker, 1828 to 191015%Dorothy Day American journalist and Catholic Worker founder, 1897 to 198017%Jair Bolsonaro President of Brazil, 2019 to 202219%Murray Rothbard American economist, 1926 to 199520%

Political views closest to Larry Summers

Third Way centrismCombines market economics with moderate social policy and pragmatic problem solving.99%KeynesianismSupports government spending and central bank action to smooth recessions and protect…98%Social market economyKeeps markets competitive but backs them with rules, social insurance and partnership…98%European federalismWants Europe's states to pool sovereignty into a shared democratic federation.97%

Read more about Larry Summers

These links open book searches on Amazon. If you buy through them, Caucus earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. They have no influence on where anyone is placed on the map.

Biographies of Larry SummersBooks on third Way centrism

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Ralph Alswang Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.