Summers Lands on His Feet

When Timothy Geithner was named Obama's pick for Treasury SecretaryFriday, it seemed he had edged out rival Larry Summers for the job.Well, Summers got his own plum job Saturday: he will head the NationalEconomic Council, according to sources. Summers will be Obama's"closest economic advisor," the Journal reports, tasked with writing astimulus bill that Obama hopes to sign into law as one of his firstacts as president. The Summers-Geithner dynamic should be fun tomonitor. During the Clinton administration, Summers mentored Geithner,and the younger man was unfailingly deferential, according The NewRepublic's Noam Scheiber. "My guess is that Tim would like Larry to besecretary," a friend of both tells Scheiber. "He's the type of guythat, if Obama calls and says, 'I want you to be secretary ofTreasury,' it's not at all implausible he would say, 'Mr. President,you should pick Larry.' "