On a scale of 1-10, how irritated is former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers by the Trump administration’s escalating trade war? He’s at an 11. On a special edition of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Summers says he is highly concerned with the White House’s ad hoc and escalating imposition of tariffs, which he describes as the “worst, most consequential, self-inflicted wound in US economic policy since the Second World War.”
He believes that even if the tariffs are reversed, the US has already lost significant credibility globally, which will have long-term consequences for the country’s ability to sell debt, form security alliances, and conduct economic and foreign policy.
Summers, formerly the president of Harvard University, also tells Ian that he’s slightly disappointed by the lack of public pushback from US institutions and business leaders, though he understands the complexities they face in speaking out against the administration.
However, economics aside, Summers is more worried about the threat to American democracy and the rule of law than the health of the US and global economy. Economic damage can be reversed, but erosion of democratic norms is harder to recover from.
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