The Biden Recession Is Coming
Erick Erickson
Posted: Apr 01, 2022 12:01 AM
Larry Summers served as secretary of the Treasury, director of the National Economic Council, and president of Harvard University. He is not a dumb man. He is a liberal Democrat with a Democrat's understanding of economic policy.
On Feb. 4, 2021, writing in the Washington Post, Summers wrote of President Joe Biden's proposed economic stimulus plan: "(W)hile there are enormous uncertainties, there is a chance that macroeconomic stimulus on a scale closer to World War II levels than normal recession levels will set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation, with consequences for the value of the dollar and financial stability. This will be manageable if monetary and fiscal policy can be rapidly adjusted to address the problem. But given the commitments the Fed has made, administration officials' dismissal of even the possibility of inflation, and the difficulties in mobilizing congressional support for tax increases or spending cuts, there is the risk of inflation expectations rising sharply."
Summers noted that unemployment was already falling, unlike in 2009 when then-President Barack Obama put forward a big stimulus bill. Additionally, the Biden plan poured much more money into the economy at one time. As Summers pointed out, under the Biden plan, "if the breadwinner were laid off, the family's income over the next six months would likely exceed $30,000 as a result of regular unemployment insurance, the $400-a-week special unemployment insurance benefit and tax credits." In other words, an unemployed person would take home more money than an employed person with a pretax income of $1,000 a week. That was economically destabilizing.
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https://townhall.com/columnists/erickerickson/2022/04/01/the-biden-recession-is-coming-n2605356
