HKS Affiliated Authors

Frank and Denie Weil Director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government
Charles W. Eliot University Professor

Excerpt

In shutdown debate, focus should be on growth instead of deficit. Lawrence Summers, October 13, 2013, Opinion. "Washington is consumed by the impasse over reopening the government and raising the debt limit. It seems likely that this episode, like the 1995-96 government shutdowns and the 2011 debt-limit scare, will be remembered mainly by the people directly involved. But future historians may well see today’s crisis as the turning point at which American democracy was shown to be dysfunctional — an example to be avoided rather than emulated. This tragedy is compounded by the fact that most of the substance being debated..." Link verified March 28, 2014