PSLM Recycles Controversial 1991 Summers Memo

President-elect Lawrence H. Summers beams when asked what it feels like to have his signature at the bottom of every dollar bill minted during his tenure as Treasury Secretary. He's fond of noting that his mother insisted he sign his name Lawrence--instead of the usual Larry.

Unfortunately for Summers, his scrawl on the dollar bill might not be his most famous signature.

Critics of Summers have long targeted a provocative internal memo he signed during his time as chief economist at the World Bank. The memo created a controversy when it was leaked nine years ago to The Economist, and with Summers' recent appointment as president-elect at Harvard, the debate has reemerged.

The memo laid out a detailed argument about why the World Bank should encourage the export of toxic waste to the Third World, acquiring the nickname the "Toxic Waste Memo."

Hindsight has indicated that the memo was actually written by a subordinate at the bank, and some argue that it was meant ironically. Nevertheless, critics of Summers and the bank have railed against it.

In the past, Summers has said that the memo was meant to provoke discussion within his department at the bank, but he has also apologized for its content on other occasions.

But with Summers scheduled to arrive permanently in Cambridge in July, campus activists have taken up the memo issue as well.

Since Summers was officially named president-elect on March 11, copies of the memo have been sent out over the e-mail lists of several major student groups.

Some groups have used the widely available memo to raise larger questions about the president-elect's record on issues of globalization and the Third World.

The Harvard International Monitoring and Action Group (HMAG), issued a press release shortly after the announcement was made that specifically referenced the memo. "The 'toxic waste memo' is certainly of concern," Mekhala Krishnamurthy '02, HMAG's director of campus affairs, wrote in an e-mail. "It is not clear whether he regrets the contents of the memo or the fact that it was leaked."

The memo has also become a focal point for groups hoping to use Summers' appointment to push for change in University policy.

The Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) e-mail list was also forwarded the "Toxic Waste Memo" by one of its members soon after Summers' selection was announced.

"While PSLM doesn't have an official position on the memo, we do have a lot of concerned folks," said Benjamin L. McKean '02, a member of PSLM.

Despite the memo's age, McKean said he saw the document as extremely relevant to his organization's objective of getting a living wage for Harvard employees.

"The best way to disavow the memo is to implement the living wage and strengthen the anti-sweatshop campaign," said McKean, who is also a Crimson editor. "For me, though, that memo is a troubling indicator of what might be to come."

Other lists that received the the memo included Let's Go, the Society of Arab Students, UC General and many House lists.

Summers is accustomed to answering questions about the memo.

At the press conference announcing his appointment at Harvard, Summers said, "I've had multiple occasions to comment on that memo and I think the best that can be said is to quote La Guardia and say, 'When I make a mistake, it's a whopper.'"

Summers has never publicly said that he didn't write the memo, but many close to him have made it clear that Summers only signed the work of a subordinate and was not the memo's primary author.

But critics say the question of who actually wrote the memo is unimportant.

"I think regardless of the actual authorship of the memo, his policies were more or less consistent with the ideas it expressed," McKean said.

Said Krishnamurthy, "Even if Summers didn't write the memo himself, it seems like he did sign it, indicating his awareness of and responsibility for the content."

But friends point to Summers' loyalty when asked why he didn't admit to not writing the memo.

"Larry has always been immensely loyal to the people who work for him, and I could see him standing by them," University of California at Berkeley Economics Professor Bradford De Long said recently. "Larry took the job at the World Bank because he wanted to find a way to help the Third World, not dump toxic waste on it."

--Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.