Top economist departs
President Obama announced that his chief economic advisor, Lawrence Summers, would be leaving before the end of the year.
Amid mounting anxiety over the stalled economic recovery, President Obama this week announced that his chief economic advisor would be leaving before the end of the year. Lawrence Summers, who leads the National Economic Council, will return to teaching at Harvard University. Widely considered both brilliant and brusque, Summers, 55, is the third key member of Obama’s economic team to depart in recent months, following budget director Peter Orszag and economic advisor Christina Romer. Obama thanked Summers for helping “guide us from the depths of the worst recession since the 1930s to renewed growth.’’ Polls show broad voter dissatisfaction with the economy.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
June 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include a presidential get-out-of-jail-free card, masked ICE agents, and the Tooth Fairy's message for Senator Joni Ernst
-
Selling sex: why investors are wary of OnlyFans despite record profits
In The Spotlight The platform that revolutionised pornography is for sale – but its value is limited unless it can diversify
-
Garsington Opera opens its summer festival with two 'very different productions'
The Week Recommends A 'fabulous' new staging of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Donizetti's fake-love-potion comedy L'elisir d'amore