In an interview with MSNBC that aired during Thursday's broadcast of “The Last Word,” President Joe Biden said that despite warnings from people like Harvard professor Larry Summers that it would cause inflation. He said he decided to proceed with a large-scale economic stimulus package “because we considered realistic policies.” We need to instill some confidence in the American people that we can grow this economy. ” and argued that spending to deal with the coronavirus pandemic makes sense.
host Lawrence O'Donnell asked. [relevant exchange begins around 26:55] “I want to bring this up about presidential decision-making across the gamut of so many domestic policy decisions. And I'm particularly interested in Joe Biden vs. Larry Summers. Here's what I mean You are here as the President of the United States. We know as Joe from Scranton, and as you're formulating your domestic policy response to the coronavirus pandemic, that stimulus money is needed for the economy. , for depositing money into people's checking accounts. The money you need for transportation, and all the domestic infrastructure spending that you're doing,” said Harvard Economics Professor Larry Summers, a former Secretary of the Treasury and a highly regarded economist around the world. Policy is risky and this poses a risk of inflation. He warned loudly against inflation that if you dismiss that particular advice, you will end up in a recession. I expected it to happen, but it didn't happen. …You're in the position of a president who has to make these decisions, and you're aware that prominent economists like him and other voices in the world, and perhaps people in your administration, are giving you counter-advice to the direction you want to go. How do you feel when you hear that? So how do you make the decision to move on?”
Mr. Biden responded: “Two things. One is that we really need to instill confidence in the American people that we can grow this economy. One of the biggest elements of that is the It was an investment. Everyone thought so — and I thought Barack was a great president. … I thought we weren't trying hard enough. We were doing the basic old economics of the '50s, '60s, and '70s, and I thought we weren't investing enough.”
He also said he believed it was possible to reduce inflation without losing jobs.
He added, “There was this thing called a pandemic, and the response to it was so bad that thousands of people were dying every day in the United States. Now, first of all, it was… [rational] To spend money and go deal with it. That was the first major bill passed. And secondly, when I came along, I said, look, in addition to that, we can now change the dynamics and invest more in what makes us who we are. ” and discussed repairing the bridge.
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