Economy at Riskiest Point in a Decade, Lawrence Summers Says

(Bloomberg) --

The U.S. and world economies are at their riskiest moment since the global financial crisis a decade ago as trade tensions continue to grow, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said on Sunday.

Summers spoke on CNN's “Fareed Zakaria GPS” about what he called a “sadomasochistic and foolish trade conflict” the U.S. has engaged with China under President Donald Trump.

“We are losing very substantial amounts in terms of uncertainty, reduced investment, reduced job creation, for the sake of benefits that are very unlikely to be of substantial magnitude,” Summers said.

“I don't think there's any question that American workers are going to be poorer, American companies are going to be less profitable, and the American economy is going to be worse off because of the course we're on,” Summers said.

Summers, director of the National Economic Council during the Obama administration and a former chief economist of the World Bank, said that despite the risks, a crisis of the magnitude seen during the previous recession “would be a great surprise.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Mark Niquette

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