Rakhmetov
22nd September 2010, 18:35
"Dirty Industries" controversy
Further information: Summers memo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summers_memo)
In December 1991, while at the World Bank, Summers wrote a memo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summers_memo) on trade liberalization that was leaked to the press. It included a section that promoted dumping toxic waste in third-world countries for economic reasons, which drew widespread criticism. Jose Lutzenberger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Lutzenberger) wrote to Summers that his proposal was “perfectly logical but totally insane”, and showed how out-of-touch with reality economists could be.
When Summers became President at Harvard, Harvard Crimson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Harvard_Crimson) later satirized it, saying that Summers would dump waste in the Kennedy School Courtyard as it had the lowest endowment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment). Afterwards, Lant Pritchett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lant_Pritchett) claimed that he was primary author of the memo, which he claimed was satire. By Summers' second year at Harvard, both authors claimed that the report was intended as sarcasm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm). There is no documentation that the report was meant as humorous until that time, and it remains the only claim Summers has ever made about satirical authorship. The memo stated that "the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that . . . I've always thought that under-populated countries in Africa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa) are vastly underpolluted."[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5)
[/URL]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#.22Dirty_Industries.22_controversy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5)
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summers_memo
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5)
Further information: Summers memo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summers_memo)
In December 1991, while at the World Bank, Summers wrote a memo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summers_memo) on trade liberalization that was leaked to the press. It included a section that promoted dumping toxic waste in third-world countries for economic reasons, which drew widespread criticism. Jose Lutzenberger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Lutzenberger) wrote to Summers that his proposal was “perfectly logical but totally insane”, and showed how out-of-touch with reality economists could be.
When Summers became President at Harvard, Harvard Crimson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Harvard_Crimson) later satirized it, saying that Summers would dump waste in the Kennedy School Courtyard as it had the lowest endowment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment). Afterwards, Lant Pritchett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lant_Pritchett) claimed that he was primary author of the memo, which he claimed was satire. By Summers' second year at Harvard, both authors claimed that the report was intended as sarcasm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm). There is no documentation that the report was meant as humorous until that time, and it remains the only claim Summers has ever made about satirical authorship. The memo stated that "the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that . . . I've always thought that under-populated countries in Africa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa) are vastly underpolluted."[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5)
[/URL]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#.22Dirty_Industries.22_controversy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5)
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summers_memo
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Summers#cite_note-5)