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Lawrence Summers
May 3, 2000, 1 p.m. ET
 Listen to the event
You may not know him by sight, but chances are you have his signature in
your pocket. Examine any new dollar bill you own and you will find the
signature of Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers. That mark says
it all. Wherever that bill goes, home or abroad, to the IRS or the IMF,
Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers has something to do with it. That's
his job.
Summers is the chief financial officer of the federal government. He's
responsible for formulating domestic and international financial, economic,
and tax policy. He serves on the President's National Economic Council;
he's the Managing Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds,
and U.S Governor of the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. Mint, IRS, and
the Bureau of the Public Debt are his responsibility. If the phrase "the
bucks stops here" applies to anyone, it applies to him.
For the most part, Summers and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
craft the nation's economy policy. The American economy is booming; public
debt is down, budget surpluses are up. For 1999, GDP, the measure of all
goods and services produced in the U.S, grew at 4%, the third straight year
of growth at or above that number. In February, the economic expansion hit
107 months, surpassing the previous record of 106 months set in 1969. The
pressure is on Summers and Greenspan to continue the economic success
without triggering inflation.
Less well known, but just as important, Summers oversees the second largest
law enforcement agency in the federal government. The Customs Service, the
Secret Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are all part
of the Treasury Department. So protecting the President, guarding our
borders, and chasing counterfeiters are all under Summers' purview.
Before taking the top job on July 2, 1999, Summers served from 1995 to 1999
as Deputy Secretary to Secretary Robert E. Rubin. From 1993 to 1995, he
served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs for
then-Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen.
Prior to his tenure at Treasury, Summers was Chief Economist of the World
Bank for two years. From 1983 to 1993, Mr. Summers was a professor of
economics at Harvard University. He received a B.S. degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975 and a Ph.D. from Harvard
University in 1982.
Summers is an avid tennis player. He and his wife, Victoria Summers, a tax
attorney, have twin daughters and a son.
Related Web Sites
Department of the Treasury
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