Larry Summers' soft landing after Epstein revelations is case study of economics' trouble with misbehaving men

[marmar]

Former Harvard president Summers’ soft landing after Epstein revelations is case study of economics’ trouble with misbehaving men
Published: February 27, 2026 8:20am EST

Yana van der Meulen Rodgers
Professor of Labor Studies, Rutgers University


(The Conversation) Economist Larry Summers will resign from his tenured job as a professor at Harvard University, the school announced on Feb. 25, 2026, following heightened scrutiny of his ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers will leave at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, with a new title: president emeritus.

It’s a soft landing for his fall from grace.

In November 2025, Harvard launched an investigation of Summers, a former U.S. treasury secretary who previously served as Harvard’s president.

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Despite repeated calls by students for Harvard to revoke Summers’ tenure, he held onto his teaching and academic appointments at Harvard until he chose to retire. Students and staff also called for his resignation in 2005 following his disparaging comments about women in science.

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In my view, by conferring this title on Summers, Harvard is signaling that powerful men can outlast gross misconduct with their honorifics intact. .................(more)

https://theconversation.com/former-harvard-president-summers-soft-landing-after-epstein-revelations-is-case-study-of-economics-trouble-with-misbehaving-men-277025

[dutch777]

1. Would be interesting to know of all these folks, who was there for the sex and who for the money and influence part

I don't know if they can be separated. Even if you just hung with Epstein for the money/influence part and had any inkling about his other activities it is bad but seems to me a whole lot of folks were doing it just for the elite insider info and $$$ sides of things. Maybe I need to read more in depth but seems like somewhere in all the investigations, some law enforcement investigation would have more details