Economic policymakers from around the globe traveled to Washington this week for the annual spring convening of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The backdrop to the meeting was stark: The IMF warned of an “anemic outlook” for the global economy amid rising interest rates, stubborn inflation, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. It projects global growth could slow to just 2.8 percent this year.
FP’s Ravi Agrawal sat down with the renowned economist Larry Summers, a former president of Harvard University. Summers has held top jobs at the World Bank, the National Economic Council, and was U.S. treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. The two discussed the global economic outlook, but also spent time examining the state of Russia’s economy, the dollar’s strength, accusations of U.S. protectionism, and the economic impacts of U.S.-China competition. Watch the full interview, or read a condensed and edited transcript.
Watch former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers explain why he puts the chances of a U.S. recession in 2023 at 70 percent.
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers on how he thinks the United States and the West have handled sanctions on Russia.
Lawrence H. Summers
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary & President Emeritus of Harvard University
Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot university professor and president emeritus at Harvard. In the past two decades, he has served in a series of senior policy positions, including vice president of development economics and chief economist at the World Bank, U.S. undersecretary of the treasury for international affairs, director of the National Economic Council for the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2011, and U.S. treasury secretary from 1999 to 2001.
Host
Ravi Agrawal
Editor in chief, Foreign Policy
Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy, the host of FP Live, and a regular world affairs analyst on TV and radio. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He has shared a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work as a TV producer, and his writing for FP was part of a series nominated for a 2020 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
