Lawrence Summers, a former top economic aide to President Barack Obama and a Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, withdrew his name from consideration to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman on Sunday. Widely regarded as a brilliant economist and a shrewd and decisive policy-maker, Summers was considered to be the front-runner to replace Bernanke, whose second term expires in January. The former White House advisor was widely viewed as Obama's top choice, but he had generated unusually fierce opposition from progressive groups. He was criticized for his track record on financial deregulation ... (full story)