Update: Lawrence Summers Has Withdrawn From Consideration as Head of the Fed

Apparently Even Mr. Summers Has Better Political Instincts Than The President

Thanks Mr. Summers – A Class Act in the End

From the Washington Post and others we now have this.

Lawrence Summers - You'd be smiling too if you had just avoided a nasty fight in the Senate

In a letter dated Sunday to the president, Summers wrote that he was withdrawing his name.

“It has been a privilege to work with you since the beginning of your Administration as you led the nation through a severe recession into a sustained economic recovery,” he wrote. “This is a complex moment in our national life. I have reluctantly concluded that any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interest of the Federal Reserve, the Administration, or ultimately, the interests of the nation’s ongoing economic recovery.”

It is not clear, of course that Mr. Summers would have been appointed, given Democratic opposition to naming him to succeed Ben Bernanke.  But his withdrawal is a major plus for everyone, including Mr. Summers, and he is to be commended for this action.