There are, to be sure, policy areas where the two men differ in their emphasis. Summers, for example, is expected to be more aggressive on Social Security reform than Rubin was. Treasury staffers also report that he will most likely be more receptive to novel ideas such as encouraging foreign nations to adopt the U.S. dollar as their national currency. Summers, who once produced a study concluding that investment in the education of girls did more to promote economic development than anything else, is also likely to put more emphasis on financing education and health care initiatives in developing nations. Unlike most cabinet secretaries, Rubin has been more than happy to talk up and share credit with his No. 2.
Some critics charge that the duo actually helped set the conditions for the Asian crisis.
In 1995, when Mexico's financial markets burst, Treasury engineered an expensive bailout that helped convince investors there was little risk in pouring money into emerging markets. Others charge that Rubin and Summers then worsened the Asian crisis by being too tolerant of currency devaluations in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia. Still others complain that by imposing high interest rates and other austerity measures on troubled economies, the Rubin-Summers team dried up consumer demand, causing unnecessary suffering among the poor. In terms of personal style, Summers is no Rubin. Summers, in an effort to overcome his reputation for intellectual arrogance, has occasionally parroted the phrase.