Larry Summers says we could be on the brink of another 2008 financial crisis

Lawrence H. Summers
(Image credit: Jason Alden/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

China's financial markets went into a tailspin last week, setting off panics here in the U.S. and around the globe. It's not clear yet if this translates back into collapses in the real economy of China (and thus threats elsewhere), but at least one person with serious economic know-how is very worried: Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

Rising inflation is one sign of a growing economy the Fed looks for to know when to hike rates. With the turmoil in China, five-year inflation expectations are now at their lowest since 2008.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"It is far from clear that the next Fed move will be a tightening," Summers also tweeted.

Explore More
Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.