BACKGROUND INFORMATION
on the Harvard-Summers-Russian Aid Case

Omitted Material from:
"Harvard's role in US aid to Russia,"
The Boston Globe, March 25, 2006.

The following two paragraphs that appeared in my original article but (for space reasons) were mostly cut from Saturday's Boston Globe piece may provide further clarification:

"The system is virtually incapable of dealing with such players' infractions and lack of transparency in a timely fashion. It is not for lack of inquiries. A series of governmental and business investigations into the handling of U.S. assistance for Russian economic reforms entrusted to Harvard began as early as 1996. That year the Government Accountability Office published a report calling USAID's oversight over Harvard's Russia project "lax." (GAO staff entrusted to me a copy of their original draft report, which is even more critical.) The following year the Justice Department embarked on its investigation. Yet another case charging Harvard University, Shleifer, and another Harvard principal with fraud was brought by The Forum Financial Group, a Portland, Maine-based mutual funds firm working in Russia. That case was settled out of court in 2002. Only recently has Harvard opened an investigation.

While these probes were in process, Shleifer's star, like that of many such players, was steadily rising, not falling. Remarkably, Shleifer has continued to testify before congressional committees and publish articles in reputable journals as an expert on corruption, work with a World Bank anti-corruption unit, and write for Foreign Affairs on the supposed success of Russian "reforms"--without disclosing his role in crafting them. He was awarded the American Economic Association's prestigious John Bates Clark Medal in 1999. And, of course, he remains a tenured full professor at Harvard."

© , Janine Wedel