Obama’s National Economic Council Director Larry Summers “Predicts Perpetually High Unemployment.” “White House adviser Larry Summers on Friday predicted that past employment rates will not return after the recession passes. ‘The best way to put it is this: Forty years ago, one in 20 men [ages] 25 to 54, in America, was not working at a given point in time,’ he said. ‘Today, the number is not one in 20. It’s one in five. And a good guess, based on extrapolations of trends in this area, is that when the economy recovers, five years from now, assuming we return to normal cyclical conditions, one in six men who are 25 to 54 will not be working at any point in time.’” (Jay Heflin, “Summers Predicts Perpetually High Unemployment,” The Hill, 4/30/10)