Well, that's a relief.

[randomness]

From David Wessel's story in the Wall Street Journal:

Lawrence Summers pulled out of the contest to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve after weeks of public excoriation, forcing President Barack Obama to move further down the list of contenders to head the central bank.

Summers' letter to the President is available from the Wall Street Journal as a pdf.

Comments

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I agree with you entirely.

On the other hand, it is possible the President will want to show he can't be pushed around by the Senate so easily. I think making a different choice for that reason would be wrong, but it is certainly possible.

[holmes-iv.livejournal.com]

Begins to look like "any excuse to not pick the female candidate," though. Honestly, I will never understand this administration's attitude toward Fed appointments--but at least this time, the guy they left twisting in the wind without any support was somebody I wanted to avoid?