(Bloomberg) — The US economy remains “very, very hot,” though not as much as it was six to 12 months ago, said former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
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Lawrence Summers, president emeritus and professor at Harvard University, speaks during the Institute of International Finance (IIF) annual membership meeting in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. This year’s conference theme is “The Search for Stability in an Era of Uncertainty, Realignment and Transformation.”
“The United States is, today, an underlying 4.5-5% inflation country,” Summers said, speaking via video link at the start of the two-day Caixin Asia New Vision Forum in Singapore.
At the same time, soft landings “represent the triumph of hope over experience,” and commercial real estate is one area where there are likely to be “pockets of distress,” said Summers, a Harvard University professor and paid contributor to Bloomberg Television.
Summers called for stronger US-China ties and cooperation on issues including climate change and debt diplomacy for low-income countries.
“We both will do best if we promote more interdependence and intertwining between our two countries, rather than less,” he said. “Ultimately the best guarantor of peace is for each of our societies to have a broad stake in the success of the other.”
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