The China Economic Challenge: Strength, Fragility, and the Limits of Isolation | Aspen Strategy Group

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If I had to reduce the current debate about China’s economic rise to one phrase, it would be “technology trumps tariffs.” While much of our energy is consumed by familiar debates over trade wars, the deeper forces reshaping the global economy are technological change, demographic shifts, and capital flows.

We are entering a period where the certainties of the past no longer hold. In such a world, humility is essential as we confront novel and contentious questions about China, technology gaps, and economic security.

I offer not prescriptions but four observations on U.S.-China economic relations, each reflecting skepticism about elements of conventional wisdom in today’s strategic debates.  READ MORE

How universities are addressing challenges to higher education, free speech

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Universities have found themselves under pressure from President Trump – from blocked funds for research, to attacks on their admission policies and diversity programs. Robert Costa talks with Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber about the challenges facing higher education today – on campuses and in Washington – and about his focus on promoting civility and independence. Costa also talks with Lee Bollinger (the former president of Columbia and the University of Michigan) and with former Harvard president Lawrence Summers, about the government’s relationship with higher education. READ MORE

Amicus Brief on protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve

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Glad to be a part of this Amicus Brief arguing that granting the government’s request to remove Governor Cook from the Federal Reserve immediately would upset these longstanding protections and the essential functions they serve — alongside all living former Federal Chairs, a bipartisan group of former US Treasury Secretaries and distinguished economists.

Why Harvard Decided to Fight Trump

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All-In Podcast: The Great Tariff Debate

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Recession Threat as Trump Ramps Up Trade War

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Larry Summers blasts ‘ludicrous’ claim by Scott Bessent

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New York (CNN) — Larry Summers is fed up with the tariff defense made by his successor, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Summers, who served as treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, blasted Bessent’s claim that Chinese producers will bear the brunt of new US tariffs on imports from China.

“This position is contradicted by every introductory economic textbook and course of which I am aware,” Summers wrote in a post on X on Sunday. “What is the argument or authority for a claim that seems ludicrous?”  READ MORE

CNN: Americans’ confidence nosedives on trade war fears

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My interview with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown on CNN’s Situation Room.  “I fear we may be only in the second inning of our economic challenges unless the Administration is scared straight towards rational policy by the evidence surrounding it.”

CNN: Tariffs & Uncertainty

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My interview with Laura Coates on CNN. “Trump’s tariffs are pretty much all downside as economic policy.”

Tariffs, economic uncertainty raise risk of recession

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Many economists say tariffs and economic uncertainty are raising the risks of a recession. One of those economists is Larry Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary and former director of the National Economic Council.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong talks to Summers about President Trump’s economic policies and why they are raising fears of a recession.

This segment aired on March 20, 2025.

Free Press: Larry Summers Thinks Trump’s Tariffs Are a Disaster

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By Oliver Wiseman, The Free Press — We are at war. A trade war, that is. With China and—less explicably—Canada and Mexico. Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada went into effect on Tuesday morning. This week, the administration also introduced an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports.

Canada has responded with 25 percent tariffs targeting around $100 billion of U.S. goods. China retaliated too, blacklisting 15 U.S. companies and slapping 15 percent tariffs on American chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton, and 10 percent on other food. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has said she is prepared to respond with levies of her own.  READ MORE

Five Former Treasury Secretaries: Our Democracy Is Under Siege

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New York Times — When we had the honor of being sworn in as the 70th, 71st, 75th, 76th and 78th secretaries of the Treasury, we took an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution.

Our roles were multifaceted. We sought to develop sound policy to advance the president’s agenda and represent the economic interests of the United States on the world stage. But in doing that, we recognized that our most fundamental responsibility was the faithful execution of the laws and Constitution of the United States.

We were fortunate that during our tenures in office no effort was made to unlawfully undermine the nation’s financial commitments. Regrettably, recent reporting gives substantial cause for concern that such efforts are underway today. READ MORE