Larry Summers: Fed Rate Hike Right Now Would Shock the Economy

By Money Morning Staff Reports, Money Morning • September 21, 2016

Larry Summers, former National Economic Council Director and Undersecretary for International Affairs during President Bill Clinton's tenure, went on an epic Twitter rant this morning.

Summers' tweets were aimed directly at the Federal Reserve, which will reveal its latest monetary policy decision at 2 p.m. this afternoon, followed by remarks from Chair Janet Yellen at 2:30 p.m.

The former Clinton administration economist argued that the Fed shouldn't raise interest rates for myriad reasons, among them...

• Total hours worked in the United States remain flat to down over the past six months
• Inflation expectations are falling, not rising
• An increase would "come as a shock [to the economy] at a fragile moment"

Here's the complete tweetstorm unleashed by Summers this morning...

Larry Summers' Tweetstorm About the Fed and Interest Rates

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While Summers sounded off on the Federal Reserve's possible monetary policy moves just this morning, Money Morning Global Credit Strategist Michael E. Lewitt, who created several of the world's top-ranked credit and hedge funds over his 29-year career, has been raising red flags about the "hydra-headed" Fed for quite some time now.

It is time, Lewitt says, for the U.S. central bank to move toward normalizing interest rates and allowing markets to operate freely.

Unfortunately, the Fed lacks the intellectual acuity or moral courage to stand up to narcissistic and cowardly equity investors who run for cover at the first sign of higher rates. Here's more...

Here's what's being said about Larry Summers' remarks on Twitter:

#LarrySummers Tweets