In the Washington Post, Al Kamen floats Larry Summers' name as a possible successor for Paul Wolfowitz, should Wolfowitz resign as head of the World Bank.

Some thoughts.

Would he be a good choice? This pick might run into fierce opposition. Obviously, Summers is more than well-versed in the issues...but I imagine that there are people there who never thought much of the draconian tight money policies he and Bob Rubin imposed on various nations during the 1990s.

Would he do it, though? I could argue it round or flat.... It's a high-profile job in the kind of work that Summers loves. But on the other hand, the second that he takes a new job, Summers will be held accountable for results in a way that he isn't now. Also, Summers is probably making much more money now than he would at the World Bank, where he couldn't rake in speaking fees and which would probably require him to step down from his hedge fund position.

Most interesting, though, this is more evidence of how Summers' reputation outside Harvard continues to rise like the proverbial phoenix.