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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

This round of budget cuts in Medicaid in the OBBB far exceeds any other cut the United States has made in its social safety net. Read my New York Times opinion piece: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Lawrence Summers: This Law Made Me Ashamed of My Country

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

This current administration risks putting this cycle in reverse by undermining the Federal Reserve, imposing tariffs and passing a tax and policy bill that is more budget busting than big and beautiful.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

That set off a virtuous economic cycle of growth, deficit reduction, lower interest rates and thus more investment and growth. Fiscal responsibility helped contain inflation b/ it was accompanied by respect for the independence of the Fed and recognition of the importance of a strong dollar.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

In that earlier era, we followed a strategy of hoping for the best, while planning conservatively. We paired policies that reduced the deficit with others that stimulated investment.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

There are important parallels between the two moments. Mr. Clinton then and Mr. Trump now face serious fiscal problems and an economy that is being rapidly changed by new technology; then it was the internet, now it’s artificial intelligence.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

We were members of Bill Clinton’s economic team when the federal budget was balanced, the only time that has happened in more than half a century. In nearly every respect, the Trump administration’s approach is the opposite of what worked in the 1990s — and it poses huge risks to our economy.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

This bill is more budget busting than big and beautiful. We helped balance the budget but Trump’s plan unbalances our finances and our country. Read my @nytopinion.nytimes.com piece with Bob Rubin. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | We Both Served as Treasury Secretary. We Know This Bill Is Dangerous.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Watch Friday’s Wall Street Week BloombergTV where I talk with David Westin about how inflation and unemployment are making the Fed’s job harder. We also discuss the economic fallout from conflict with Iran and the New York City mayoral race. www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...

bloomberg.com

Summers on the Fed, Middle East and NYC Mayoral Primary

Fed Chair Powell says uncertainty around tariffs justifies holding interest rates steady for now. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers agrees but warns that rising inflation and unemployment ...

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

‘Are We Past Peak Harvard?’ Frank Bruni, Ross Douthat and I discuss the state of higher education in Trump 2.0 and beyond in a New York Times online conversation. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | ‘Are We Past Peak Harvard?’: 3 Writers Mull Higher Education’s Woes

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Takeaways: Losing the Privilege – The U.S. has long benefitted from the dollar’s dominance. That status was never guaranteed. Policy Risk Is the New Market Risk – When investors worry more about Washington than war or pandemics, something’s broken.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Takeaways from my conversation w/ Jay Sapsford: Triple Market Warning – Stocks, bonds, and the dollar are falling together. That should be a source of 'apprehension.' Tariffs Send Mixed Signals – Economic nationalism may play well at home, but globally it raises doubts about U.S. reliability.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Is the Dollar Still a Safe Haven? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce podcast on how tariffs stoke uncertainty and investor anxiety, putting our financial credibility at risk. “It’s as much a question of psychology as it is of economics.” youtu.be/bsyI307Xmo8?... via @YouTube

youtu.be

Is the Dollar Still a Safe Haven? With Larry Summers

YouTube video by U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

"This is the biggest self-inflicted wound we've put on our economy in history. ...Until we have a reversal, I think we're going to have a real problem." Watch my interview today on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. youtu.be/1NwDy__RJKE?...

youtu.be

1 on 1 with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, This Week with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos

YouTube video by Lawrence Summers

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Looking forward to being on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News tomorrow morning at 9am ET.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Institutions such as Harvard have vast financial resources, great prestige & broad networks of influential alumni. If they do not or cannot resist the arbitrary application of government power, who else can? Without acts of resistance, what protects the rule of law? www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Lawrence Summers: Harvard Must Not Yield to Trump

As with most confrontations, the merits in this clash are not one-sided. But the Trump administration is acting in bad faith.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Trump’s attack is not surprising given his authoritarian tendency and past rhetoric. Columbia's capitulation was unconstructive at best, and I pray Harvard will avoid following their example.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Second, President Trump is no moral beacon on antisemitism. He has praised and dined with Neo-Nazis and holocaust deniers and welcomed the support of ugly white nationalists.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

First, that it would be illegal and likely unconstitutional, as well as threatening prosperity and national security, to suddenly withdrawal federal resources from American universities.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

While the Trump Administration is right in saying universities have been wrongly accepting of antisemitism, it should not obscure two central realities.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Trump's idea was to make America great again. Instead, the result in the quarter of President Trump taking office was the worst relative stock performance vs. Europe in the decades since they began collecting data. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com

Europe’s Stock Surge Outpaces Wall Street in Historic Run

This was a historic quarter for European stocks. Investors are now wondering if there will be an encore.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

....if it is to regain public confidence and be in a maximally strong position to confront dictatorial oppression of the kind currently being applied to Columbia, other universities, several prominent law firms and holders of valid work visas.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

To be sure, Harvard has much more to do on discipline, limiting DEI, constraining soft censorship of conservative ideas, and promoting ideological diversity .....

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

I hope and trust these actions reflect the belated development of conviction and courage by leadership, rather than an effort to appease the threatening, dangerous, oppressive Trump administration.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

The university at last did the right thing by suspending its partnership with terrorist supporting Birzeit University and by moving to replacing the leaders of its Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

There is strength in numbers, and I hope across American universities and American institutions more broadly there will be organization for collective resistance to extortionate government demands. Makes no mistake, our prosperity as well as our freedom depends on the maintenance of law.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

I cannot judge, because I do not have many of the relevant facts, the wisdom or necessity of the steps taken. But this kind of bending of the knee by major institutions, if continued, threatens American democracy.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

I am profoundly saddened and alarmed by Columbia University and Paul Weiss law firm’s capitulation to the increasingly dictatorial Trump administration.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Today. 9:35am ET. Talking with John Berman on CNN about tariffs and upcoming Fed meetings.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

After the events of Friday in the Oval Office, I wonder if Treasury Secretary Bessent stands by his view that President Trump should receive a Nobel Prize for his efforts with respect to Russia & Ukraine. It might be the most absurd, offensive and sycophantic comment ever made by a Treasury Sec.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

A responsible Treasury Secretary would be trying to mobilize resources for Ukraine, rather than extracting compensation from Ukraine.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

I join Treasury Secretaries Rubin, Geithner, Lew and Yellen in writing this guest essay because we are alarmed about the risks of arbitrary and capricious political control of federal payments, which would be unlawful and corrosive to our democracy. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers, Timothy Geithner, Jacob Lew, Janet Yellen: DOGE Is a Threat to U.S. Democracy.

Former Secretaries Rubin, Summers, Geithner, Lew and Yellen argue that DOGE is a threat to America.

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Xi is given an excuse for his economic failures and a more open door to all our allies as we prove our unreliability by bullying. 4/4

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Jobs in the industrial heartland will be lost as American producers can’t compete due to higher input costs. Canada and Mexico will lose trust in us and retaliate as their economies suffer. Immigration and drug risks will increase. 3/4

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Just when inflation is sensitive, it will risk price increases for oil, food, and cars and may lead the Fed needing to raise interest rates. 2/4

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Trump’s tariffs are a bully strategy. Bullying doesn’t win over time on the playground or in the international arena. This self-inflicted supply shock is a strategic gift to Xi Jinping. 1/4

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

These actions are an important test for the American business community. They know this is not a pro-business strategy to promote economic growth. I hope business leaders have the courage to say so. 8/8

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

If the United States shows that it is willing to arbitrarily impose tariffs as a form of hostage taking for leverage, then other countries will find us a bad partner. This will undermine our economy, our power and our national security. 7/8

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Fifth, as the opening foreign policy move of a new Administration, this punishes our closest allies and rewards our adversaries. The idea of diplomacy is to unite your allies and divide your adversaries. Why are we doing the opposite? 6/8

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Fourth, it is hard to imagine a better way to increase migration on our southern border than by destabilizing the Mexican economy, as these tariffs set out to do. 5/8

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Third, this will force our allies to retaliate. I presume they will retaliate in ways that are designed to maximize our economic pain. 4/8

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Second, as the tariffs are passed on to consumers and then other firms raise prices to match their competitors’ higher prices, this will hurt American job creation by making American firms less competitive. Much of what we export, involves imported inputs. 3/8

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

First, the tariffs will raise prices on automobiles, gasoline, and all kinds of things that people buy. 2/8

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Lawrence H. Summers @larrysummers.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Aside from the general issues about Trump‘s tariff and his economic nationalism strategy, today’s actions against Canada and Mexico are inexplicable and dangerous. 1/8

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