The Face of Leadership

In a recent Guardian column, William Keegan wrote a terrific passage about former US Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers, on globalization and leadership:

"At the end of a year when the world has seen the death of champion of the inside left JK Galbraith and champion of the outside right Milton Friedman, Summers invokes the wisdom of Galbraith declaring, 'In the US, the political pendulum is swinging left. The best parts of the progressive tradition do not oppose the market system; they improve on the outcomes.' He adds: 'Galbraith was right when he observed: "All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership".'

"Summers concludes that 'meeting the needs of the anxious global middle is the economic challenge of our time'."