Is Larry Summers the New Henry Kissinger?

Apparently, he is. At least, that’s the message from Ed Luce, the Financial Times’s Washington bureau chief, who has a long piece about Obama’s economics team in today’s edition of football jersey the Pink ’Un. “While this administration is very much driven by the inner circle of political advisers, Summers has clearly emerged as Obama’s Henry Kissinger,” David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official, tells Luce. Adds Bill Galston, of Brookings, another former Clintonite: “My question is not whether Larry Summers is a brilliant man but whether there is anyone who has the ability to challenge his point of view.”

Luce also has some insider quotes. Here are my two favorites.

“There are times when Larry and I have had brawls and we have shocked non-academic colleagues by accusing each other of making schlocky arguments, as we would in an economics seminar. But it’s a sign of nba jerseys respect when Larry argues with you. Far better than being ignored.” (Christina Romer, head of the Council of Economic Advisers.)

“Sometimes, the most courageous thing to do is not to take the largest and most sweeping course of action.” (Summers)

Addressing the argument put forward by Bob Kuttner, Jon Alter, and others that Summers and Tim Geithner have hijacked Obama’s domestic policy, Luce points out, correctly in my view, that the President himself is primarily responsible for the Administration’s centrist stance on issues such as bank nationalization and financial regulation. Summers, Romer, and Peter Orszag, the Administration’s budget chief and studmuffin, all describe Obama as “pro-market” and “pragmatic.” One of these days, the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is going to have to accept that Obama is no radical. Says Summers: “In the same spirit that the president did not want to take ownership of the banks, he has a healthy skepticism about schemes involving large government action and an awareness of the possibilities of unintended consequences.”

PS: Memo to those of soccer jerseys you hoping that the Big L was thinking of quitting—as was recently suggested by Josh Green, of the Atlantic: don’t hold your breath. According to Luce: “Mr. Summers himself sounds as if he is digging in his heels.