He was literally part of a ring of rich and powerful pedophiles who trafficked underage women.

I read the memo. Maybe just me, but I don't see any indication that it was tongue in cheek.

What’s the joke?

I'd only entertain the possibility that it was tongue-in-cheek if it came from someone critical of the World Bank and laissez-faire economics in general, for instance Joseph Stiglitz, who has also been chief economist at the World Bank and was critical of it. But if you're fine with structural adjustment – which many see as basically tear-down-orphanage-to-build-mall – you don't get to make that kind of jokes. It's too close to home.

The /s was supposed to be implied.

Would you accept 0 pollution if it meant you had no electricity, electronic devices, or access to transportation? All of those things create pollution.

Jonathan Swift was a writer and known satirist with publicly known views that were opposite to the absurdist views expressed in his famous satire.

> And Jonathan Swift was actually advocating eating children.

If you're going to engage in satire, its best the satire be obvious.

I believe there are capitalist economist types who believe what Summers wrote unironically.

Most notable about that is the implied confession that he was lying in his original formulation, which was that there was more variability in male intelligence than female intelligence (higher highs, lower lows). In fact, his private undisclosed belief was simply that women were inferior.

I remember brouhaha a whole bunch of pundits and thinkers defending him against evil feminists. On the grounds of intelectual curiosity and rational thinking.

Hey, turns out the dude trades "how to flirt with women in workplace whem they do presentation" advice with literal child abuse sex ring leader.

Surely he could not possibly be sexist, nah.