Larry Summer on potential recession: ‘Nothing is inevitable or certain in economics’
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on Sunday said that a recession in the U.S. is not guaranteed, even though historical context has indicated that the country could go into one next year.
“Nothing is inevitable or certain in economics, Chuck.” Summer told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“The painful fact, though, is that historically when we’ve had inflation above 4 percent and we’ve had unemployment below 4 percent, essentially always, since World War II, that’s been followed by a recession within the next two years,” said Summers.
The Harvard University professor said that the U.S. may be able to avoid a recession if the Federal Reserve is “extraordinarily skillful and lucky,” though he said the agency had a “very, very difficult job.”
“Perhaps we will be fortunate and there will be sufficiently rapid adjustments in commodity prices and other bottlenecks that will make…
