Summers More Upbeat on U.S. Economy Than at Any Time in 5 Years

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said he’s more upbeat about the U.S. economy than at any time in the past five years.

“I’m very encouraged by the statistics of the last few months,” Summers said at a conference in Washington today held by The Atlantic. “I’m more encouraged than I’ve been any time in the last five years about the situation of the American economy, though there are no certainties.”

Summers, 57, Treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton and director of the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010, is said to be a possible candidate to lead the World Bank.

Summers also said an overhaul of the U.S. tax code “should be at the top of the national agenda” for whoever wins the November presidential election.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Katz in Washington at ikatz2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net;