Larry Summers: Blizzard to distort labor statistics

Karen Finerman (Fast Money) interviewed Larry Summers.

Karen asks Larry about jobs:
Look, jobs are priority number one for the President. Let me say a word about the statistics. Who knows what the next number is going to be. The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. And in past blizzards, those statistics have been distorted by 100 to 200,000 jobs. So it's going to be very important to know, very important to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends. I think those underlying trends are going to show job growth soon. I think that, in large part, because of what is coming on-stream. Several thousand new projects are coming on-stream: building roads, repairing bridges and the like across the country.

Grandpa’s take: The blizzard could not have hit at a better time. The administration is thrilled that they can continue their bullish gibberish for another month while they orchestrate their marketing campaign to position the equity market to simply “blow off” the negative news. "Jolly" Joe Biden will likely announce another 500,000 jobs would have been saved had it not been for that darn snow.

KAREN FINERMAN:
When you watch him getting absolutely skewered over the AIG bill, what is going through your head when you watch that?

LARRY SUMMERS:
The same thing going through my head when I see these things that happen many times in Washington. I wish people, frankly, in the media, could take the trouble to understand the nature of the choices that we're presented, and to recognize that people go into public service with the right kind of motives. Tim Geithner is the only Treasury Secretary this country's ever had who never earned a dollar from the private sector in his time before he became Treasury Secretary. So I -- it gets me angry when I hear some of the things that are said about him.

Grandpa’s take: we are supposed to embrace Geithner because he is the only Treasury Secretary who never earned a dollar from the private sector before he became Treasury Secretary? What are your motives Larry?

Prior to your 11/24/2008 appointment to Director of the National Economic Council, you raked in $5.2 million from D.E. Shaw and another $2.7 million in speaking fees. What grandpa finds most interesting is that prior to your appointment, your client list of speaking engagements included JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Lehman Brothers. No conflict right Larry?

Transcript link (entire interview)
Larry Summers: it's the blizzard

Larry...Larry, Karen is ready for you now...