Larry Summers lobbying for a position in a potential Clinton administration and Christine Lagarde, the real deal among women in finance, address a camel passing through the eye of a needle.<\/p>\n
The usually loquacious former U.S. Treasury Secretary\u00a0Larry Summers\u00a0is rarely a man at a loss for words, especially on economic matters. But he was stumped at a recent event\u2014at least for a moment.<\/p>\n
The Harvard University economist was asked to expound on Matthew 19:24, the Bible passage that says it\u2019s harder for a rich man to enter heaven than a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.<\/p>\n
In the airy halls of the National Cathedral, Mr. Summers and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde\u00a0this week were exploring \u201cCapitalism and Morality: The Inequality Challenge\u201d with Adi Ignatius, the editor-in-chief of Harvard Business Review.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ignatius asked the two economic policy leaders whether the Christian faith is compatible with having vast wealth.<\/p>\n
Ms. Lagarde quickly tapped her catechism of old, pointing to the \u201cparable of the talents,\u201d a biblical lesson on the use of personal resources. \u201cIt\u2019s how you use it, what you do with it, and what purpose you give to your life as a result which really matters,\u201d the head of the world\u2019s emergency\u00a0lender said.<\/p>\n
All eyes in the cathedral turned to the man who had largely dominated the panel discussion for the previous hour. Mr. Summers had adopted a puzzled pose not too dissimilar from Rodin\u2019s \u201cThe Thinker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI really don\u2019t know what to say,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been on a lot of panels in my life\u2013a lot of panels\u2013and I have to say as a Jewish economics professor, this is the first occasion, and I frankly hope the last, on which I have been asked to opine on Christian morality.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few more \u201cumms\u201d later, however, Mr. Summers was able to regain his composure and his words. He\u00a0proceeded to walk the congregation through Henry Ford\u2019s revolution of the U.S. economic geography, iPad education, higher taxation on the wealthy and philanthropy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Larry Summers lobbying for a position in a potential Clinton administration and Christine Lagarde, the real deal among women in finance, address a camel passing through the eye of a needle. The usually loquacious former U.S. Treasury Secretary\u00a0Larry Summers\u00a0is rarely … Continue reading