Oberlin, Ohio--U.S. Secretary of Treasury Lawrence H. Summers will discuss "Economic Challenges and Priorities in the New Economy" in a noon assembly to be presented Monday, December 4 at Oberlin College.

While at Oberlin, Summers--who became the 71^st Secretary of the Treasury in July 1999--will explore questions including: what is the new economy? How did we get here? What are the greatest obstacles and challenges facing the new economy? How can we best keep the prosperity of the new economy going?

Summers served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury from 1995 to 1999. Working closely with then Secretary Robert E. Rubin, he played a leading role in the Department’s work on issues related to international economic and financial policies and tax policy as well as to the nation’s financial system, domestic policy, and enforcement.

From 1993 to 1995, Summers served as Under-Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. In that position he held broad responsibility assisting then Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen in the formulation and execution of international economic policies.

Summers has written extensively on economic analysis and policy, and is the author of Understanding Unemployment and the co-author of Reform in Eastern Europe. He edited the series Tax Policy and the Economy, has contributed more than 100 articles to professional economic journals, and is a former editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Prior to joining the present administration, Summers served as vice president of development economics and chief economist of the World Bank from 1991 to 1993. As chief economist, he sat on the Bank’s Loan Committee, played a key role in the design of country-assistance strategies, and had overall responsibility for the Bank’s research, statistics, and external training programs.

In 1993, Summers was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal--given every two years to an outstanding American economist under the age of 40. He also was the first social scientist to receive the National Science Foundation's Alan Waterman Award for outstanding scientific achievement. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.