What’s at stake in the inflation debate? | Mark Weisbrot

Larry Summers and others have been sounding the alarm over inflation. But are fears overblown?

Larry Summers says he's worried about the US economy. Even more than he was worried when he started to sound the alarm in February. The well-known economist and former US treasury secretary said last week that the focus of concern right now should be on overheating".

He's not talking about climate but about the economy growing too fast and running into persistent high inflation like we had in the 1970s, along with other possible crises. On the same day that he issued the above warning, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June was 5.4% above its level one year earlier. Press reports noted that this was the biggest one-year jump since 2008.