Larry Summers thought inflation could rise quickly – but not this quickly

Larry Summers thought inflation could rise quickly – but not this quickly

For someone who's been warning of rampant inflation for much of 2021, it would take a blowout report to rattle former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Data published Wednesday seems to have fit the bill. The Consumer Price Index — among the most popular gauges of broad inflation — , trouncing the 0.2% estimate and marking the largest month-over-month jump since 2009. The acceleration in price growth is worthy of concern, Summers said Friday, adding the data surpassed even his own projections. "I was on the worried side about inflation and it's all moved much faster, much sooner than I had predicted," Summers said on . "That has to make us nervous going forward." Summers has been among the loudest voices calling on the Biden administration and the to pull back on policy support amid concerns of an inflation crisis. He characterized Democrats' $1.9 trillion stimulus plan as the "least responsible" fiscal policy he'd seen in four decades. The idea that inflation can't suddenly spiral out of the Fed's control "is just plain wrong," he said in March. The former Treasury Secretary's comments could even lift inflation on their own, because price growth is somewhat guided by expectations. When people anticipate