July-August 2003 - VOLUME 24 - NUMBER 7 & 8
T H E L A W R E N C E S U M M E R S M
E M O R I A L A W A R D
July-August 2003 - VOLUME 24 - NUMBER 7 & 8
T H E L A W R E N C E S U M M E R S M
E M O R I A L A W A R D
THE LAWRENCE SUMMERS MEMORIAL AWARD*The July/August 2003 Lawrence Summers Memorial Award* goes to two of the stalwart appointees of the Bush administration, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Harvey Pitt, and current Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Commenting on the one-year anniversary of passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley financial accounting reform bill, Pitt said, "Government is a poor substitute for self-regulation and establishing ethical" standards. Wolfowitz, touring Iraq in July, told reporters, "I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq." Sources: For Pitt: Associated Press, "Sarbanes-Oxley concerns SEC ex-chairman," July 25, 2003. For Wolfowitz: Reuters, "Wolfowitz Warns Iraq's Neighbors Not to Interfere," July 21, 2003. |
| *In a 1991 internal memorandum, then-World Bank economist Lawrence Summers argued for the transfer of waste and dirty industries from industrialized to developing countries. "Just between you and me, shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging more migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs (lesser developed countries)?" wrote Summers, who went on to serve as Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration. "I think 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 underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under polluted; their air quality is vastly inefficiently low [sic] compared to Los Angeles or Mexico City." Summers later said the memo was meant to be ironic. |