The National Bureau of Economic Research has cut Larry Summers' formal ties with the organization, according to a communication from the research group's president. An ad hoc committee evaluated Summers' conduct and recommended terminating his appointment as a research associate, leading the bureau to state that he is no longer an NBER affiliate.
The agency's president, James Poterba, conveyed the outcome in an email, writing, "He is no longer an NBER affiliate." The action follows scrutiny over Summers' association with Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier who was convicted in 2008 of sex crimes.
Documents released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee showed a close relationship between Summers and Epstein that persisted after Epstein's 2008 conviction. The released materials have been central to the recent reassessment of Summers' institutional affiliations.
Summers has faced multiple professional consequences tied to his links with Epstein. He announced last month that he would resign from his teaching duties at Harvard University at the end of the current academic year. That move came months after the American Economic Association issued a lifetime ban.
The bureau's internal review process involved convening an ad hoc committee specifically to examine Summers' conduct. That committee recommended termination of his appointment as a research associate with NBER, and the organization implemented that recommendation.
Public statements and released committee findings make clear that while the documents describe an ongoing relationship between Summers and Epstein following Epstein's 2008 conviction, there is no evidence that Summers was involved in Epstein's sex trafficking activities.
The sequence of institutional responses - a lifetime ban by a leading professional association, Summers' planned departure from teaching at a major university, and now the termination of his NBER affiliation - represents a series of professional consequences tied to disclosures about his connections with Epstein. The organizations involved have each relied on internal processes or disciplinary bodies in reaching their respective decisions.
Summary of developments
- NBER ended Summers' appointment as a research associate after an ad hoc panel recommended termination.
- James Poterba, NBER's president, stated in an email that Summers is no longer affiliated with the bureau.
- House Oversight Committee documents indicate a close relationship between Summers and Jeffrey Epstein continued after Epstein's 2008 conviction; no evidence links Summers to trafficking.
- Summers plans to resign from Harvard at the end of the academic year and has been barred for life by the American Economic Association.