Economics
Transcript: Larry Summers Gets His ‘Told You So’ Moment on Inflation
The former Treasury secretary explains to Bloomberg’s Stephanie Flanders how he came to the conclusion U.S. prices would skyrocket.
Larry Summers
Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Larry Summers is having his “I told you so” moment.
The Harvard professor, former Treasury secretary and paid Bloomberg contributor rained on everyone’s parade last spring by warning that the U.S. government’s generous bailout payments might spawn inflation—a bogeyman many others discounted. Fast-forward to today and many economists are (sheepishly) admitting he was more right than wrong about rising prices. The Federal Reserve has jettisoned the word “transitory” from its vocabulary, and President Joe Biden’s approval rating is suffering as the nation endures 6.8% inflation.