WH Econ. Adviser: Larry Summers Has ‘Been Very Prescient Going Back a Ways’

On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Wall Street Week,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein praised Harvard Professor and economist Larry Summers as someone who has “been very prescient going back a ways here.”

In a clip played at the start of the interview, Summers stated, “These were good numbers. They showed a strong economy with slowing inflationary pressure. Insofar as there’s [a] strong signal in them, it’s got to be encouraging.”

Bernstein responded, “It was great to hear Larry’s assessment. Of course, Larry’s been very prescient going back a ways here. This is another in a series of very strong jobs reports and I think it just once again, underscores that the president’s economic plan continues to work well on behalf of American working families and households.”

In other parts of the interview that were not played for Bernstein, Summers said that “we don’t have slack in the labor market. And there’s nothing in this number that fundamentally changes that picture. I certainly think that the prospects for a recession in the near term look lower. Prospects of a recession in the winter or spring of 2023 are certainly lower right now than I would have guessed they would be six months ago. But I think the judgment that soft landings are the triumph of hope over experience continues to be the right best guess with respect to the economy.”

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