“I am profoundly concerned by the doctrine of manufacturing-centered economic nationalism that is increasingly put forth as a general principle to guide policy,” Summers said on Tuesday while speaking virtually at an event held by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Specifically, Summers took issue with the administration’s trade stance, efforts to prop up US manufacturing and its antitrust crackdown.
Summers said he agrees with a “large part of” what the administration has done, including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act, which sought to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing. “I believe those two signature items of Biden policies were appropriate steps,” Summers said.