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