Since then, there have been $ 1.2 trillion of inflation indexed bonds in the United States, and 13 countries have followed Larry’ s lead in creating inflation indexed bonds in the world. Now there are $ 3 trillion of inflation indexed bonds in this fantastic asset class that never existed before. And that’ s just one of Larry’ s many, many accomplishments.
So, obviously Larry Summers is a brilliant man, but the John Whitehead Award really is not just brilliance and public service, which Larry has given us plenty of, but it’ s also about character. Anybody who knew John Whitehead knows about his character, and I want to say that Larry in so many different ways has great character. He’ s famous for needing to find out what’ s true and speaking the truth. It’ s almost been a problem for Larry. But he has this compelling need that I respect to find out what is true, and a lot of people who are not as gifted as Larry think that Larry is a bit arrogant. If you get to know Larry, he’ s the most open-minded person that you can find. I watch him with world leaders and his students— trying to pull out of them their perspectives on any subject.
In terms of his character, as president of Harvard and now professor, he’ s been an unbelievable mentor to the kids. He treats them as peers; he pulls out of them their thoughts, and he puts them above everybody else. When he was president of Harvard he realized there were a lot of kids in the country who really couldn’ t even think of coming to Harvard University, and yet they should. And he began a scholarship program specifically for those kids. Then that scholarship program was followed by a number of other Ivy League schools. When he was president of Harvard he envisioned what Boston and the Harvard area could be in terms of the biomedical area. Today, within a five mile radius of Harvard Square, there is more biomedical research with the best minds, largely as the result of Larry.
I could go on listing Larry’ s leadership and public service, but I’ d be here probably the next hour trying to get through that. I’ m standing between you and a truly great man, a man who I admire enormously and who has produced ripple effects in terms of our economic wellbeing in ways that are much more subtle than many of you and I can appreciate.
LAWRENCE H. SUMMERS Former US Secretary of the Treasury and President Emeritus of Harvard University
Thank you for those warm words. I am reminded of what Lyndon Johnson said when he was introduced, only half as generously as you just introduced me:“ I wish my parents had been here for that. My father would have appreciated it and my mother would have believed it.”
Joe [ Ricketts ], it is a privilege to share the stage with you on this occasion. I have to say that nothing I have achieved have I achieved alone, and if what Ray [ Dalio ] says has any truth at all it is a reflection of the many great people— including two Presidents of the United States— who have entrusted me with great responsibility, a tribute to the hundreds of colleagues of extraordinary ability and dedication that I have had the privilege to work with. And nothing I have been able to do would have been possible without the love and support of my family.
Frankly, I would have gone anywhere to hear a speech like Ray’ s about me. But I really feel a special sense of pride in being able to help an event at the Museum of American Finance because I believe that it is extraordinarily important to remember history and to learn from it. It is my conviction that the further forward you want to see, the longer back you have to look. It has been my observation that the most successful public servants and public leaders, men like John Whitehead for whom this award is named, achieved much of what they achieved maybe in part because they were smart, maybe in part because they were effective, but in large part because they were wise. And what made them wise was experience and the knowledge of history.
And that in our arena of finance is what is recorded, studied and transmitted at this very important museum. And I would dare to suggest that at this moment in our national life— knowing history, distilling its lessons, learning from what has gone wrong and learning from the much larger number of things in the American story that have gone right— is profoundly important. And I would suggest that if you walk around the Museum of American Finance, if you think about what is behind those exhibits … yes there are stories of great men and women, yes there are stories of great institutions and yes there are stories of epochal events. But if you look through all of that there are some principles that I believe are especially important today. Here are a few of them:
First, negotiation, exchange and interaction are not a zero sum game. They are a game from which everyone can win. A good deal is not when you beat the other guy; a good deal is when you win and he or she wins. A good deal is when the world becomes a better place. That’ s true when in the simplest and most basic form of exchange— you sell something and you are better off getting the price, and I buy something and I am better off getting the thing. And the same thing is true on a much larger scale in the financial arena and beyond.
Here is a second principle. Finance and economic life work best when they are based on openness, transparency, principle and are free from political motivation. That’ s
16 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Winter 2017 | www. MoAF. org