Global integration must never be primary cause of local disintegration – Lawrence Summers

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.20. Global integration
must never be primary cause of local disintegration, Lawrence
Summers, the 8th Director of the US National Economic Council, said
during the panel discussions on Global Economic Outlook: Is this
the End of an Era? held as part of the World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland, Trend reports.

“Europe has not frozen, recession has not come, China has
adjusted its policies towards the world and inflation has
decelerated. Those are all positive things and reasons why we
should feel better than we felt a few months ago. But relief must
not become complacency. Inflation is down, transitory factors have
contributed to the declines that we’ve seen in inflation. As in
many journeys, the last part of the journey is often the
hardest.

And that’s true with respect to a return to the inflation
target. The greatest tragedy in this moment would be if central
banks were to lurch away from a focus on assuring price stability
prematurely and we would have to fight this battle twice. We have
to carry through. Because if inflation were to be allowed to surge
back, that would put not just the price stability, not just
standards of living for some of the lowest-income people at risk,
but also pose very substantial risks to stability,” he said.