A prominent economist just got hit with a career-ending penalty. The American Economics Association dropped a lifetime ban on Lawrence Summers—yeah, the guy who once ran Treasury and led Harvard.

This whole mess traces back to his connections with Jeffrey Epstein, which recently came to light and basically torched whatever was left of his professional standing. The association didn't hold back: permanent exclusion from their network.

For someone who used to shape economic policy at the highest levels, this is about as brutal as sanctions get in academic circles. No conferences, no official roles, no coming back from this one.

The fallout keeps spreading—institutions are clearly done playing nice when these kinds of ties surface. Reputation in finance and economics? It can evaporate faster than a rug pull if you're caught on the wrong side of a scandal.