Summers says pandemic only partly to blame for record inflation
Former Treasury secretary lays out need for Fed intervention, political costs of higher prices
Inflation has taken over dinner-table conversations around the nation after hitting highs not seen in four decades. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard’s Charles W. Eliot University Professor, warned last February that additional government stimulus efforts to combat a pandemic slowdown raised the risk of inflation — which hit a 7 percent annual rate in December. He argued that the funds would make their way into an economy already showing signs of being on the road to recovery. Summers talked with the Gazette about the economic and political dangers of high inflation and what can be done to rein in surging prices. This interview was edited for clarity and length.
